International Certification for Neurosonology

The project of an International Certification for Neurosonology was launched by the officers and the executive committee of the NSRG during the 2005 meeting in Osaka Japan. Later the European Society of Neurosonology and Cerebral Hemodynamics (ESNCH) joined this initiative.

The aim is to improve the quality worldwide. The certificate should indicate a high level of theoretical knowledge of the candidate and sufficient practical skill to be able to teach Neurosonology. In countries with established quality control and elaborated regulations outstanding personal qualification can be used to support accreditation on a national level. The following experts were nominated members of the international commission: Eva Bartels, Laszlo Csiba, Mario del Sette, Marek Jauss, Manfred Kaps, Masayasu Matsumoto, Kurt Niederkorn, N.V. Ramani, Disya Ratanakorn, G.-M. von Reutern, E.B. Ringelstein, Cahrles Tegeler. The Chairman of the project is Prof. Dr. Michael von Reutern, Germany, the Commission Vice Chair is Prof. Dr. Eva Bartels, Germany.

They first discussed the format of the certification. The problem is that practical involvement and responsibilities for ultrasonic examinations are not the same in different regions of the world. The decision was made to offer first a Multiple Choice (MC)-examination and those who pass will than take an additional practical exam with patients or subjects. Members of the commission were asked the help to build up a database of MC-questions. Suitable questions were selected from the submitted ones and formatted. A trial examination to test the appropriateness and format was done during the ESNCH meeting in Düsseldorf, May 2006. The final format was decided afterwards and published.

The first official Certification was offered during the ESNCH/NSRG meeting in Budapest 2007 (L. Csiba and L. Olah), followed by the meeting of the ESNCH in Geneve Italy 2008 (M. del Sette) and Riga 2009 (G. Baltgaile). In addition a certification was offered at the end of the International course in Bertinoro, Italy (C. Baracchini et al.) during the 1st International Neurosonology Training Course in 2008. Dr. Ramani organized a test in Singapore and together with Dr. Navarro a second one in Kuala Lumpur in 2009. A further exam took place in Budapest in March 2010. The last examination for International Certification for Neurosonology took place in Madrid during the 15th Meeting of the ESNCH, 22-25 May 2010.

Between 20% and 45% of candidates successfully passed the MC-test, all of them passed the following practical test. This selection is due to the teaching level of questions including physics and instrumentation. It has also to be recognized that English terminology was an additional handicap for non-native speakers, which is the majority of candidates. In this issue the complete list of successfully participating and awarded physicians is published. Technicians were accepted to take part at the MC-test receiving a special certificate. Some ranged among the best.

It is planned of offer this Certification under the umbrella of the WFN at further NSRG and ESNCH meetings e.g. the NSRG meeting in Cairns Australia as well during advanced courses of Neurosonology. Efforts are needed to brush up and enlarge the database of questions, which will not be an easy task. Any submitted questions (4 answers, one correct) are welcome.

G.-Michael von Reutern, MD Eva Bartels, MD

Chairman of Commission Commission Vice Chair

Impressions from the 1st International Neurosonology Training Course

The Secretary, Dr. C. Baracchini, reported on the first international neurosonology training course of the ESNCH which was held in Bertinoro (Italy) from the 7th to the 11th of September 2008. Although the duration of the course was quite long (5 days) and the organization required a great amount of work to prepare a suitable timetable for speakers and topics, not to mention the costs of such an event (rendered even higher by some last minute defections), the course was very successful because it saw the participation of 48 specialists coming not only from Europe but also from South America and Asia. For this event 28 Italian CME credits and 40 German CME credits were granted, and on the last day of the course all participants were offered the possibility to obtain the International Certification in Neurosonology. The requirements for this Certification have been very high standard, this partly justifies the fact that only 20% passed the exam (passing mark set at 30/40) and obtained the International Certification in Neurosonology. But despite this it is possible to resit this exam as often as nessessary. This event was also an occasion for participants to become members of the ESNCH: 13 applied for membership. With the money coming from registrations and from the sponsors, the expenses were covered, thus obtaining a balance budget.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

C. Baracchini M. Del Sette
P. Limoni G. Meneghetti

THE TOPICS OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM HAVE BEEN:

Principles of Ultrasonography

Physical and Technical Principles
Artefacts in vascular imaging

Ultrasonography of the cervical vessels

Extracranial insonation: how to do it?
Extracranial insonation: tricks and pitfalls
Arterial wall imaging: IMT and wall motion
Endothelial function testing
Cervical vessels: atherosclerotic disease
Cervical vessels: non atherosclerotic disease

Transcranial Ultrasonography

Transcranial insonation : how to do it ?
Intracranial vessels: stenosis, occlusion
Cerebral Veins : normal and pathological findings
Vasomotor Reactivity and Functional TCD
Microemboli detection
Contrast agents
PFO detection in young stroke patients
PFO and migraine
Acute stroke: diagnosis and monitoring
Acute stroke: perfusion imaging
Acute stroke: sonothrombolysis
US and movements disorders
Cognitive impairment and US
TCD in heart surgery and in endovascular procedures
TCD monitoring in vascular surgery
TCD monitoring in ICU
Cerebral circulatory arrest
Future developments of Neurosonology

Impressions from the Neurosonology Teaching Course in Budapest

Neurosonology Teaching Course 11-12, March 2010 Budapest.

The Hungarian Neurosonological Society organized its third teaching course this March for ca. 60 participants. Because we have received numerous requests from neighboring countries to organize a course and exam for English speaking colleagues too, we decided to organize a parallel ESNCH course with international participation. Sixteen colleagues came to the course from the following countries: Bulgaria, Rumania, Belgian, Spain, Lettland, Poland. At the end of the course, five colleagues passed the exam. The invited speakers were C. Baracchini the secretary of ESNCH, Mario Siebler (Düsseldorf) member of executive committee, Ekaterina Titianova (Sofia) who introduced us her recently published book on neurosonology. Theoretical lectures and practical demonstrations (on out-patients of neurological departments of Budapest) were organized. Thanks to the excellent collaboration with Hungarian partners, not only the theoretical but also the practical part of the course was successful. Because of the high standards only 5 from 12 people could pass the exam. The conference was organized in the four-star Helia Thermal Hotel of Budapest. The service, food was excellent and the well-known Tibor trio helped us by relaxing with turbulent dancing.

Announcement of the 2nd International Neurosonology Training Course

The 2nd International Training Course in Neurosonology of the ESNCH will take place from the 8th to the 11th September 2010 in Dubrovnik, a beautiful medieval Croatian city located on the southern Dalmatian coastline. Prof. Vida Demarin and her team have agreed to organize this important event, that will give an opportunity to participants to obtain the International Certification in Neurosonology.