Document Download: World Neurology: January-March 2020

Published by Ascend Integrated Media LLC, Kansas, USA

From the editors

Steven L. Lewis, MD, Editor, and Walter Struhal, MD, Co-Editor

We would like to welcome all neurologists from around the globe to this issue of World Neurology. First, we would like to wish you, your families, and your patients all the very best of health and safety in this time of the global pandemic.

This issue begins with the important message from the president of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), Dr. William Carroll, to all our member societies and neurologists worldwide, with regard to the COVID-19 crisis. In Dr. Carroll's adjoining President's Column, he also reviews the current status of the many activities and plans for the WFN, and in another adjoining column, reports on the recent successes with regard to the WFN's activities with the World Health Organization (WHO).

It has been a while since a book review has been featured in World Neurology, and we are so pleased that this section has returned with the thoughtful and colorful review by Dr. Mark Hallett (a previous editor of World Neurology) on the book recently published on the history of the National Hospital and the Institute of Neurology at Queen Square written by Drs. Simon Shorvon and Alastair Compston. In addition, Dr. John England, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurological Sciences ( JNS), provides his Editor's Update of an important special issue of JNS devoted to opiate addiction.

Prof. Serefnur Öztürk reports on a recent "In the Region" session at the Turkish Neurological Society Annual Neurology Congress that was focused on Women in Neurology. Dr. R.S. Jain provides his report of the many activities surrounding World Stroke Day that were held in Jaipur, India. Drs. Marina Alpaidze and Gia Tomadze describe the recent activities of the WFNs Special Interest Group on Neurosonology held in Tbilisi Georgia. Drs. Nils Erik Gilhus, Aud Kvalbein, and Anette Storstein report on the structure and many important activities and accomplishments of the Norwegian Brain Council.

This issue also features several reports from trainees who participated in department visits with WFN partner societies and hospitals in Austria, Canada, and Germany, with wonderful descriptions of their experiences and great appreciation to their hosts. In this issue's History section, curated by Dr. Peter Koehler, Dr. Egle Sakalauskaite-Juodeikiene describes the history and debunking of a fascinating "disease" that had neurologic and multisystem manifestations, and the sociocultural factors and biases that underlied the belief in the existence of this condition at the time. Finally, this issue announces calls for nominations for the next open position for Elected Trustee of the WFN and the mechanisms for nomination for this important position.

In closing, we would like to reiterate our wishes to all for safety and health for you, your families, colleagues, and patients in this remarkable and trying time. For global neurology-related COVID-19 resources and information, please refer to the new page on our website: wfneurology.org/covid-19-andworld- neurology. Please also be on the lookout for additional links and resources on the WFN website to freely and widely available eLearning materials that will be of increasing importance and relevance in this time of social distancing.

Highlights

From the WFN

• An Open Letter to All Member Societies of the WFN
  By Professor William Carroll, WFN President

  At this time of what we all hope is the peaking of the COVID-19 crisis, I write to assure you that the WFN remains functioning normally with none of the trustees, staff, or executives physically affected. We trust that this continues and ask that if any member society is affected adversely in any way that they think we should be aware of, or that we might be able to assist, then please contact the London Office

• Call for Nominations for Elected Trustee 2020

  On behalf of the World Federation of Neurology, the Nominating Committee invites nominations for the position of Elected Trustee for a three-year period.

• Journal of The Neurological Sciences - Editors Update
  By John D. England, MD

  The Journal of the Neurological Sciences is publishing a series of articles in a two-part Special Issue on "Addiction Medicine." The editor for this Special Issue is Dr. Mark S. Gold, a worldrenowned psychiatrist and addiction medicine expert.

President's Column

• 2020 WFN Status Report: Where Are We?

  Following the end of 2019, highlighted by the successful World Congress of Neurology (WCN) in Dubai and a productive two-day strategy meeting just completed in mid-January in London, it seems appropriate to review where the WFN now stands as we move into 2020. I make no apology to those who read these columns regularly and who will have noted

• WHO Geneva Adopts Key Decision

  The World Federation of Neurology successfully supported the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) in the adoption of a decision by the WHO Executive Board in relation to epilepsy and other neurological disorders. Support for the draft decision proposed by the Russian Federation and co-sponsored by China, Guyana, and many other member states, including the European Union, was overwhelming.

Around the World

• Norwegian Brain Council Targets Brain Health
  By Nils Erik Gilhus, Aud Kvalbein, and Anette Storstein

  The Norwegian Brain Council (NBC), established in 2007, has been a pioneer in combining health worker organizations, patients, and research. The council is recognized nationally and seen as a key contributor to the Norwegian health system.

• Teaching Course: Clinical Diagnosis of Brain Death and Neurosonology 
  By Marina Alpaidze, MD, and Gia Tomadze, MD

  The Neurosonology Specialty Group (NSG) of the WFN, formerly known as Neurosonology Applied Research Group, is dedicated to the promotion of science and research as well as of education and training in the field of ultrasonic techniques and its clinical utilization.

• World Stroke Day Celebration
  By R.S. Jain, MD, DM Neurology

  It is always a Herculean task to educate the illiterate in large numbers with limited resources in the biggest and most prestigious government medical college institution of the state like ours. Two posters on World Stroke Day were released by Hon. Chief Minister of Rajasthan State Shri Ashok Gehlot.

Women and Neurology

• A Special Session of the Turkish Annual Neurology Congress
  By Prof. Serefnur Öztürk

  Traditional "In The Region" sessions during the annual neurology congresses have focused on a variety of subjects for more than 10 years. Many of the subjects have been explored with the contributions of delegates from countries that are in collaboration with the Turkish Neurological Society during The Turkish Annual Neurology Congress. "Women and Neurology" was the focus for this year.

Book Review

• Queen Square: A History of the National Hospital and Its Institute of Neurology
  By Simon Shorvon and Alastair Compston, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2019

  Like most neurologists, I had always known about Queen Square as a mecca for neurology, and I got the opportunity to see it in action when I did a fellowship in London 1975-1976 with David Marsden. At that time, Marsden was at the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill, but I would go to the clinical demonstrations at Queen Square on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I paid my 50p, sat in the back, and observed the master clinicians.

Department Visit

• WFN and the Austrian Neurological Society
  By Michel K. Mengnjo, MD

  I was delighted when I was accepted for the WFN travel fellowship to Christian Doppler Clinic (CDK) at the Salzburg University teaching hospital in Austria. My gratitude goes to the World Federation of Neurology, the Austrian Neurology Society (OEGN) as well as Prof. Alfred K. Njamnshi, my head of internship program in Cameroon, and Prof. Eugen Trinka for facilitating this fellowship.

• Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada
  By María Eugenia Briseño Godínez

  I had the privilege to be selected for the WFN Department Visit Program 2019 in Canada. I did an observership for a month in the Montreal Neurological Institute. There, I chose to be in the two services that interest me the most as a training neurologist: epilepsy and neuromuscular.

• Frankfurt, Germany
  By Dr. Meriem Aoufi

  Thanks to the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) for the German department visit grant, I have spent four weeks in the department of Prof. Helmuth Steinmetz in the Goethe University Johan Wolfgang Hospital in Frankfurt.

History

• Plica Polonica Through the Centuries the Most "Horrible, Incurable, and Unsightly"
  By Eglé Sakalauskaité–Juodeikiené, MD, PhD

  Plica polonica is an endemic disease of Poland, Tartary, and neighboring countries. It begins with a long-lasting nervous-rheumatic ailment and progresses to the formation of uncombed and filthy hair plaits in hairy parts of the body, especially the head," wrote Joseph Frank (1771- 1842), professor of clinical medicine at Vilnius University, in his textbook Praxeos medicae universae praecepta in 1815.