Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader,

The 3rd Conference of the European Academy of Neurology took place in Amsterdam in June. Again, a high-level meeting producing many interesting learning and research experiences, throughout the subspecialties of neurology. Although not yet at the level of its American counterpart, the meeting's level is clearly improving and its future looks promising.In this conference report, you can find the highlights of the most popular subspecialties of neurology, which will help you to stay up-to-date with the recent advances in neurology.Ageing and dementia continues to be a promising field of research, since new compounds are being developed and tested, which we look forward to learn more about in the near future.It seems to be an exciting time for the treatment of status epilepticus, with new strategies and new forms of neuromodulation.For the prevention of migraine, a new EMA-approved monoclonal antibody, erenumab, is now available while botulinumtoxinA and cannabinoids are likewise becoming a part of the armamentarium.Multiple Sclerosis (MS) remains one of the fastest evolving areas in neurology. With a positive CHMP opinion on cladribine and upcoming molecules like ocrelizumab, relapsing MS treatment is improving. Interestingly, additional options for treating progressive forms of MS are also emerging, namely, siponimod and ocrelizumab, maintaining high hopes for preventing disability in the long run.In Parkinson’s disease, researchers are reinventing the role of DBS and finding ways of earlier detection. But above all else, even a possible real DMT is ready for a clinical trial.For stroke, endovascular therapy has now become standard of care within a time window of 6 hours, which might well be further expanded. Furthermore, early tDCS might enhance brain plasticity and functional outcomes, while alpha-lipoic acid might become an additional option for secondary prevention of stroke.

It remains for me to wish you lots of pleasure in discovering all the highlights from the EAN 2017, and hope that it will benefit your care of patients.

All the best!

Bart

Prof. dr. Bart van Wijmeersch


Biography
Bart Van Wijmeersch completed his general medical training in 2001 at the University of Leuven, Belgium, after which he started his specialisation in Neurology. During this residency he finished a PhD in neuroimmunology at the lab of experimental transplantation and neuroimmunology at the same university.Since 2008 he is active as neurologist, specialised in Multiple Sclerosis, at the Rehabilitation & MS-Center in Overpelt, were he is medical director and leads a multidisciplinary MS-team. He is a member of the board of the Belgian Study Group for Multiple Sclerosis and the first president of the ParadigMS Foundation, an international organisation dedicated to improve the transfer of scientific knowledge on MS to the daily practice of MS care.As associate professor of Neurology at the University Hasselt, he is affiliated with the Biomedical Institute of the University, where he is involved in the pre-clinical, clinical and fundamental research in Multiple Sclerosis.



Posted on 5 March, 201723 March, 2021