XIX SYMPOSIUM NEURORADIOLOGICUM
The World Congress of Diagnostic & Therapeutic Neuroradiology

Venice

Dear Friends,

Neuroradiologists all over the world are invited to Italy in Autumn 2010 to take part in the XIX Symposium Neuroradiologicum.
I was entrusted with the task of organising this meeting four years ago during the XVII SNR chaired by Luc Picard in Paris. This will be the most important event in my career and I intend to devote all my energy to organising it as efficiently as possible respecting the principles and the universalistic spirit of the SNR founders. Anton Valavanis has generously agreed to help me as Vice President and I am confident in his support and advice.
Ideally, I would like everyone to attend but plainly our day-to-day practice makes that impossible. To overcome this problem I plan to prepare a whole series of materials: printed matter, proceedings, videos, etc. to be made available free of charge to all neurologists on request via the internet website and on CD-Rom.
I propose two main topics: Interventional Neuroradiology and the neuroradiologist as a clinician fully responsible for his/her patient, and the new research achievements of Diagnostic Neuroradiology in the study of brain physiology. Then we will analyse the trends in neuroradiology at the crossroads of the neurological sciences in terms of ongoing revolutionary acquisitions in technology, research, advances in neurosurgery, neurology and radiology, tackling the fundamental issues of the end of life and decisions stemming from what we call brain death.
We shall also focus on training neuroradiologists of the future. The cultural basis and knowledge essential for both diagnostic and therapeutic neuroradiological practice are increasingly vast and complex. As individual neuroradiologists can no longer master the myriad aspects of our discipline, we need to decide on the essential foundations to be shared by all before choosing to develop specialist branches and how this can best be translated into university neuroradiology courses.
I also plan to allot the time for all participants to present their work and discuss it with colleagues. These sessions will be divided by topic but I do not intend to mention specific subjects here. Ours is a vast discipline and I would like to include every aspect of our work.

The SNR Scientific Committee will assess your proposals and allocate as many as feasible for oral presentation, posters or even lectures depending on the type of work involved. This will be very time-consuming, but the Symposium is no ordinary meeting where topics are chosen solely on the basis of current interest or originality. This will count, but it will be very important for colleagues to air their views on our work, outlining their own experience in broad areas of the discipline and thereby stimulate lively broad-based discussion. In view of the time constraints involved, please let me have your proposals for the Symposium well in advance: deadline 31st December 2009. The Symposium will be held in October 2010.
In addition, any comments and general ideas for the organization of the Symposium are welcome, especially suggestions on the major topics relating to the future trends in neuroradiology.
I am relying on the all-important support of our traditional sponsors that I thank in advance for the help I am sure they will not fail to offer what will be the most important reunion of neuroradiologists from all over the world.
This is the first of many letters you will be receiving on the organization of the XIX Symposium Neuroradiologicum. Thank you all at the outset for your attention and your participation: I hope to welcome very many of you to Italy in 2010!

The President
Prof. Marco Leonardi