WORLD NEUROLOGY honour to welcome the neurologi-cal societies of China, Congo, Iran, Libya, Nigeria and Senegal as new WFN mem-bers. The number of member societies is now 102, and

During the Annual Congress of theEuropean Federation of NeurologicalSocieties in Brussels, the WorldFederation of Neurology celebrated thecompletion of 50 years since its incep-

tion in that city in 1957. Some of thosewho had been present at its birth gracedthe occasion at a special half-day sym-posium and Presidential Reception.Among the prominent speakers were

current WFN President, Dr Johan Aarli;Dr Jacques L. De Reuck from Belgium,current President of the EFNS; and LordWalton of Detchant, Past President ofthe WFN who was involved in the organ-ization from an early stage. Lord Waltondescribed the complete WFN historyfrom its beginnings right up to the pres-ent time. He recounted the initialteething problems and some of the diffi-culties that have been faced in strength-ening the WFN which started with 26

Visit the WFN website at http: / /www.wfneurology.org

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T h e N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e W o r l d F e d e r a t i o n o f N e u r o l o g y

W O R L DNEUROLOGY

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:� President’s Column

� Short Report: Meeting of thePublications & Website

Committee� WFN Golden Jubilee

Celebrations� World Federation ofNeurology, 1957-2007

� Regional News� Junior Travelling Fellowship—

A Report� Calendar� Obituary

Acknowledgement: World Neurology is published with agenerous grant from the Japan Foundation forNeuroscience and Mental Health.

Contd. on page 3

EDITORIALWFN Celebrates its Golden Jubilee

Johan Aarli

Editor-in-Chief

Jacques L. De Reuck

Lord Walton of Detchant Gallo Diop

Benedetto Saraceno

Prominent Speakers at the Special Symposium held for WFN Celebrations

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDr. Jagjit S. Chopra, # 1153 Sector 33-C,Chandigarh-160 020, India. Tel: +91-172-2661532. Fax: +91-172-2668532. E-mail:[email protected]

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDDr. Johan Aarli, Department of Neurology,University of Bergen, Haukeland Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway. E-mail:[email protected]. Ra’ad A. Shakir, Charing Cross Hospital,Fulham Palace Road, London - W6BRF, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. Mark Hallett, NINDS, NIH Bldg. 10, Rm.5N226, 10 Centre Drive, Msc 1428, Bethesda,MD 20892, USADr. Theodore Munsat, Department ofNeurology, New England Medical Center, Box314, 750 Washington Street, Boston, MA02111, USADr. Robert Lisak, Department of Neurology,University Health Centre, School of Medicine,4201 St. Antonio, Detroit, MI 48201, USADr. William M Carroll, c/o AAN Secretariat, 145Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000,AustraliaDr. Marianne de Visser, Academic MedicalCentre, University of Amsterdam, Dept. ofNeurology, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZAmsterdam, The Netherlands. Dr. Roger N. Rosenberg, Chief Editor, Archivesof Neurology, 515 N State Street, Chicago IL60610, USADr. Daniel Truong, The Parkinson’s &Movement Disorders Institute, 9940 TalbertAvenue, Suite 204, Fountain Valley, CA 92708,USAREGIONAL DIRECTORSDr. Ashraf Kurdi (Pan-Arab), JordanDr. Jacques de Reuck, (Pan-European),BelgiumDr. Thomas R. Swift, (North American), USADr. Mario Tolentino Dipp (Latin American), Dominican RepublicProf. Gilbert Avode Dossou (Pan-African),BeninDr. Bhim Sen Singhal (Asian-Oceanian), India

ASSISTANT EDITOR Dr. I.M.S. Sawhney, Department of Neurology,Morriston Hospital, Swansea SA6 6NL, UK;e-mail: [email protected]

WFN ADMINISTRATOR Keith Newton, World Federation of Neurology,12 Chandos Street, London W1G 9DR, UKe-mail: [email protected]

PUBLISHING STAFFPublisher:

Peter F. Bakker ([email protected])Marketing:

Jorinde DirkmaatDesign and Layout:

Desh Deepak KhannaOperational Support:

Annemieke van Es

ADVERTISINGPlease send inquiries about advertising inWorld Neurology to the AdvertisingDepartment, Elsevier Ltd., The Boulevard,Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB,UK. Phone: +44-1865-843 258; Fax: +44-1865-843 976; email: [email protected]

MANUSCRIPTSThe Editor is happy to receive unsolicited

manuscripts or photographs for considera-tion, but cannot accept responsibility for anyloss or damage to such material. Manuscriptsshould be submitted in English, typed onwhite paper using double spacing with mar-gins of at least 3 cm. Authors should submitmaterial on computer disk (Microsoft® Word®or plain ASCII format) whenever possible.Tables and figures should be separated fromthe text and should clearly indicate theauthor’s name. Colour photographs and illus-trations are encouraged.

EDITORIAL STATEMENTAlthough great care is taken to ensure accu -racy, the WFN and Elsevier B.V. cannot be heldliable for any errors or inaccuracies in this pub-lication. Opinions expressed are those of theauthors. Elsevier B.V., the Editor, the WFN orthe Grantor cannot be held responsible for thevalidity of clinical treatments, dosage regi-mens or other medical statements made. Any

dosage referred to should be checked againstthe relevant data sheet for the product.World Neurology, ISSN 0899-9465, is pub-lished by Elsevier B.V., Radarweg 29, 1043 NXAmsterdam, The Netherlands; Phone: +31(20) 485 3358; Fax: +31 (20) 485 3249; e-mail: [email protected]

REPRINTSReprint requests and all correspondenceregarding the journal should be addressed tothe Editor. However, back issues of WorldNeurology can be obtained from the publisher.

CHANGE OF ADDRESSNotice of change of address should be sent to:World Neurology, Editorial Secretariat, 12 ChandosStreet, London W1G 9DR, UK. Fax: +44 20 73234012; e-mail:[email protected]

Printed by Chandika Press (P) Ltd, 126 Industrial Area-1, Chandigarh-160002, India. e-mail: [email protected].

WORLD NEUROLOGY2

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PUBLISHING INFORMATION

T h e N e w s l e tt e r o f t h e Wo r l d Fe d e rat i o n o f N e u r o l o gy

W O R L D

NEUROLOGYV O L U M E 2 2 , N U M B E R 3 , S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7

CONTENTS

COPYRIGHT © 2006 World Federation of Neurology. All rights reserved.Published by Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, the NetherlandManuscripts accepted for publication become the copyright of the WorldFederation of Neurology (WFN). Before publication a copyright form will be supplied by the Publisher, which must be completed by all authors.

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1President’s Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Short Report: Meeting of the Publications & Website Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5WFN Golden Jubilee Celebrations: President’s Reception . . 6World Federation of Neurology, 1957-2007Regional News:

The 13th Congress of the Syrian Society of Neurosciences 9First Annual Neurology Research Day, Pakistan . . . . . . . . . 9XVth Annual Conference of the Indian Academy of Neurology (Jointly with Association of British Neurologists) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10CME Report from Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Visit of Dr Doug Postels to Malawi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11American Academy of Neurology hosts Tropical NeurologyProgram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Brain Ageing and Dementia in Developing Countries . . . . . . . 12Junior Travelling Fellowship—A Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Elsevier Advertisement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15Obituary: Prof John Newsom-Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

delegates from 21 countries. It is a mat-ter of pride that WFN has now scored acentury and that its current member-ship strength has risen to 102 thanks tothe hard work put in by the MembershipCommittee under the leadership ofProfessor Marianne de Visser. Even theChinese Neurological Society has nowjoined the WFN, something which manyhad tried but failed to achieve in thepast. This committee deserves our con-gratulations for their efforts.

Other speakers at the special sympo-sium were Dr Benedetto Saraceno fromGeneva, representing the World HealthOrganization; Dr Juan E. Mezzich, Presi -dent, World Psychiatric Association; andProfessor Gallo Diop from Dakar inSenegal who delivered an in depthaccount of the needs of African coun-tries for neurological services which cur-rently are greatly lacking. He is indeed agreat help to the WFN Africa Project.Even though the efforts of the WFN inenhancing neurological education inAfrican countries are only in their earlystages, already they are showing goodresults and meetings have taken place inBoston and in August in Brussels. TheWFN attaches the greatest importance tothis Africa Project.

Neurologists throughout the world andin the WFN in particular, are in great

shock after learning of the sudden,tragic demise of an immensely popularcolleague, the neuro-immunologistProfessor John Newsom-Davis. He wasan excellent teacher, a research scien-tist par excellence, a very good clini-cian and on the top of all that someonewith friends in almost every country.It is a great loss to the whole globalmedical community that such an emi-nent man has lost his life in a tragicaccident. On behalf of the WFNTrustees, officials and membership atlarge, I pray to God for peace for hisdeparted soul and for his family to begiven the strength to bear this terribleloss.

Jagjit S. Chopra, FRCP. PhDEditor-in-Chief

EDITORIAL 3



(Editorial contd from page 1)

Public Relations Committee Meeting, held on August 27, 2007 at Brussels

EMG MACHINESBassett Hospital would like to donate two Cadwell Sierra EMG machines that are

no longer in use to deserving neurologists who could use the equipment. Both

machines are in excellent condition though there will be a need for some degree

of maintenance, and supplies will also be required from time to time.

The older (and larger) of the two machines is about 15 years old and has an

enclosed console which houses the computerized portion. The other is about 7

years old, has an attached laptop and is much more portable. Both have printers.

Other technical considerations include the standard US 120 volt lines; the need

for eventual replacements for the earth, reference and active electrode wires;

and disposable EMG needles.

If any reader is interested, please contact Michael Thomas Miller, M.D., (Division

of Neurology, One Atwell Rd., Cooperstown, NY 13326 USA;

e-mail: [email protected]).

WFN Africa Project Meeting held on August 25, 2007 at Brussels

The Annual Delegates’ Meeting 2007took place in Brussels on August 26 dur-ing the EFNS congress. Brussels waschosen because it marks the 50-yearanniversary of the World Federation ofNeurology, “the Golden Jubilee”. WFNwas launched in 1957 at theInternational Congress of NeurologicalScience held there that year. Twenty-sixdelegates from 21 countries were pres-ent at the WFN’s birth.

Since then, the organization has growngradually and this year’s meeting wasattended by 52 delegates. We had thegreat honour to welcome the neurologi-cal societies of China, Congo, Iran, Libya,Nigeria and Senegal as new WFN mem-bers. The number of member societies isnow 102, and we are grateful to theMembership Committee, under the lead-ership of Marianne de Visser, for theiroutstanding work.

The new member societies representimportant groups of neurologists fromdifferent parts of the world. With theChinese Neurological Society nowaboard, World Federation of Neurologyhas for the first time become a trueglobal organization.

During the work with the NeurologyAtlas, it had become clear that less than50% of the responding countries inAfrica have a national neurological asso-ciation. The importance of working withthe African neurologists and the localhealth systems is critical for theroadmap for neurology in Africa whichwe started to prepare last year. TheMembership Committee has thereforeworked to establish new contacts inAfrica. Congo, Nigeria and Senegal areamong the major African countries, andtheir addition is an important step for-

ward. The Republic of Congo has a population of 4 millions and the national neurological society Aprones(Association pour la Promotion desNeurosciences) 18 members. TheNigerian Neurological Society alone hasmore than 50 members; and Nigeria has131 million inhabitants. Socièté deNeurologie du Senegal has 24 neurolo-gists and the population of Senegal isover 11 millions.

With the Libyan Neurological Society asa new WFN member, most of theMediterranean countries are now included in the organization, represent-ing a strong and active part of worldneurology. It is also a great occasion towish the Iranian Neurological Societywelcome in the World Federation ofNeurology. Iran has 20 neurologists andthere were excellent scientific presenta-tions from Iranian neurologists at theEFNS Congress in Brussels. With a popu-lation of 68 million people, epidemio-logical studies from Iran will be of greatimportance in the future.

The expansion of neurology in Africadevelops from suggestions made byneurologists who actually practise in

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN4



World Federation of Neurology is growing

“...the vibrant atmosphere of Brussels...”

(EFNS Congress Final Programme 2007)

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Council of Delegates Meeting on August 26, 2007 at Brussels—Officials andTrustees

Council of Delegates at their meeting on August 26, 2007 at Brussels

SHORT REPORT: MEETING OF THE PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITE COMMITTEE 5



African countries. A Task and AdvisoryForce for Neurology in Africa (TAFNA),co-chaired by Professor Amadou GalloDiop, Senegal and myself, is the hub forthe co-ordinated WFN activities. TAFNAwill advise, support, fund-raise, evaluateand accompany the WFN Africa Com -mittee. The Africa Committee will becomposed of African neurologists work-ing and residing in the continent. A veryfirst task for the committee is to pre-pare a directory of neurologists inAfrica, similar to the directories ofAmerican Academy of Neurology (AAN)or the European Federation of Neuro -logical Societies (EFNS). The directoriesare essential also for the selection ofcandidates for international trainingand for research funding. Professor

Amadou Gallo Diop from Dakar, centralin so many WFN activities in Africa, hasalready made a wonderful job in prepar-ing the directory of neurologists inAfrica.

Educational activities are central in theWFN Programme for Africa. First, thereis a need for training of more neurolo-gists. The long term goal is that all coun-tries on the continent train their ownspecialists in neurology. This is still farahead, and a short term goal is thereforeto train candidates outside the coun-tries which today do not have trainingpossibilities. This can be done in North-America, Europe, Australia or Japan, butinternational training is expensive whenperformed on another continent, which

may not always reflect the same diseasepanorama as in the countries where theneurologists will have their practice. Inaddition, new specialists may prefer tostay in the countries where they havequalified (brain drain). The alternative isto focus upon existing training centreson the African continent, with a higherprobability that the candidates, whengraduated, return to their countries oforigin. It was also decided in Brussels tomeet with neurology leaders from Africato plan for the long term goal, how cen-tres of excellence in neurology can bedeveloped on the African continent.

Johan A. AarliPresident WFN

A meeting of the WFN Publications &Website Committee, chaired byProfessor Piero Antuono, was held inBrussels on Monday, 27th August 2007during the annual meeting of theEuropean Federation of NeurologicalSocieties.

The meeting reviewed the idea of pub-lishing World Neurology in a new,tabloid version which had been the sub-ject of ongoing discussions between theWFN and Elsevier for almost two years.Mock-ups of the new format had beenproduced and were circulated and it wasconfirmed that it could still easily beposted on the WFN website. The com-mittee agreed to introduce the new for-mat with effect from the March 2008issue. A draft contract would be circu-lated to the committee for its considera-tion. It was hoped to agree a final docu-ment in the autumn.

It would not be the Editor’s responsibil-ity to produce all the material requiredto fill the tabloid version of the newslet-ter. Elsevier’s new medical news servicecould provide some of the content.Highlights from the Journal of theNeurological Sciences had been includedin World Neurology up to now and DrLisak thought this had been both veryhelpful and had publicised the journalto a wide audience. Regional Directors

too should be pressed to contributemore from now on and the number ofpages could increase or decreasedepending on the amount of materialavailable.

At the time of the meeting the WFNWebsite had been down for about 10days because of a problem with the serv-er. The WFN Webmaster had wanted tochange the server but Elsevier input wasneeded to do this. It was suggested thatthe best arrangement might be for theWFN to have total control of the domainname. The question of administrativesupport for the website was discussedand it was confirmed that the Trusteeswould be happy to approve appropriatesupport.

Dr Lisak said the current impact factorof the Journal of the NeurologicalSciences was 2.413, the highest they hadever achieved and it now ranked 30 outof 130 neurology journals. He referredto a survey in which JNS appeared in thetop 10 most useful journals. They hadbegun to move to an electronic systemin May 2006 and had become exclusive-ly electronic in August that year. A largenumber of manuscript submissionswere being received and this wouldprobably continue to increase until theend of the year.

Dr Lisak had also spoken to Dr GalloDiop about joining the JNS EditorialBoard to have an African presence there.There remained problems for thosewhose first language was not Englishand unfortunately the personnel toimprove or help re-write such submittedmaterial were just unavailable.

Short Report: Meeting of the Publications & Website CommitteeHeld on August 27, 2007 at Brussels

Publication & Website Committee Meeting, held on August 27, 2007 in Brussels

WFN GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS6



WFN Golden Jubilee CelebrationsPresident’s Reception at Hotel Radisson, Brussels

August 27, 2007

WORLD FEDERATION OF NEUROLOGY 7



World Federation of Neurology1957-2007

In 1957, neuroscientists from manycountries came together in Brussels onJuly 21 to 28 for the first CongrèsInternational des Sciences Neurolo -giques (CISN). The Brussels congresswas the sixth international congress ofneurology. The first took place in Bern,Switzerland in 1931. Then followedLondon 1935, Copenhagen 1939, Paris1949 and Lisbon 1953. The Brusselscongress was not only the SixthInternational Neurological Congress. Itbecame the Fourth InternationalCongress of Electroencephalography,the Third International Congress ofNeuropathology, the First InternationalCongress of Neurological Surgery andthe fifth Reunion of the InternationalLeague against Epilepsy (1).

During the preparatory meetings for theBrussels congress, Ludo van Bogaerthad proposed that an international fed-eration of neurological societies shouldnow be organised. The idea was unani-mously accepted and strongly support-ed and World Federation of Neurologywas launched in 1957. Twenty-six dele-gates from 21 countries were present atthe birth of the WFN. Ludo van Bogaert,who was the secretary-general of thecongress, and Pearce Bailey were theprime movers. World Federation ofNeurology thus grew from several inter-national organizations. A meeting ofelectroencephalographers in London in1947 had already led to the establish-ment of the International Federation ofEEG and Clinical Neurophysiology. At aconference of this group and others inMoscow in 1958 there was unanimoussupport for a resolution proposing thecreation of an international organiza-tion representing the whole of brainresearch. This plan was welcomed byUNESCO, and in 1960 IBRO was estab-lished.

Ludo van Bogaert (1957-1965) waselected the first president of WFN forthe first two periods. WFN was organ-ised as a federation of neurological soci-eties which organized international con-gresses, formed research groups andedited World Neurology, which in 1964was renamed The Journal of

Neurological Sciences with MacdonaldCritchley as an editor. Van Bogaert wasthe head of the Department of Internalmedicine and Neurology at the BungeInstitute, and the Bunge Instituteremained the location of the WFN dur-ing his presidency. Pearce Bailey waselected Secretary-Treasurer General.

Together with van Bogaert and Bailey,Georg Schaltenbrand (West Germany),Houston Merritt (USA), MacdonaldCritchley and William McMenemy (UK)and Raymond Garcin (France) were cen-tral in the formative period of theorganization. The National Institute ofHealth at Bethesda offered a grant ofUS$ 126,190 annually for five years inorder to establish an office and to coversecretarial, postal, telephone and allother administrative and travel costs (2).

The founders of WFN hoped that aworld-wide federation of national neu-rological societies would promote thedissemination of information and scien-tific knowledge, that it would foster col-laborative programmes and that itwould enable colleagues in the thirdworld to promote high standards ofneurological care and to developimproved services (2). This later was re-written as “It shall be the purpose of theWorld Federation of Neurology toimprove human health worldwide bypromoting prevention and the care ofpersons with disorders of the entirenervous system by: Fostering the beststandards of neurological practice; edu-cating, in collaboration with neuro-science and other international publicand private organisations; and facilitat-ing research through its ResearchGroups and other means”.

During van Bogart’s presidency, it wasdecided that the delegates from thenational neurological societies shouldmeet towards the end of a world con-gress. The individual neurological soci-eties were invited to come up with bids,and the venue for each congress wasdecided on the basis of the bids. A localorganizing committee in the host coun-try had then total freedom to organizethe congress programme. This was

changed in 1977, when it was decidedthat the WFN should assume responsi-bility for choosing the venue for thesubsequent world congresses and theprogramme, in collaboration with thelocal organizing committee. The wordInternational was substituted by Worldas the name of the congresses.

Macdonald Critchley (1965-1973) suc-ceeded van Bogaert as president, withHenry Miller as the Secretary-General.John Walton became the new editor ofthe Journal of Neurological Sciences.

Scientific Governance in the WFN had along development. During van Bogart’spresidency, “problem commissions” hadbeen established. These commissionswere to focus on topics of specialimportance for clinical neurology. TheNational Institute of NeurologicalDiseases and Blindness donated a grantof US$ 214,108 for a commission towork on the geographical pathology oncerebral vascular disease. Other prob-lem commissions were established for avariety of neurological conditions, andthey represented the research arm ofthe organization. Van Bogaert eventual-ly proposed that the problem commis-sions should come under the aegis of anew organization called the WorldAssociation of Neurological Commis -sions with some contact with the WFN.He did so because he felt that, as thefunding from the NIH for the WFN hadrun out, perhaps an independentresearch organisation might be better atfundraising. However, MacdonaldCritchley had strong reservations aboutthe new structure, as he took the viewthat removal of its research functionswould emasculate the WFN. At a sepa-rate meeting in Geneva in 1966, it wasagreed that instead of leaving the WorldFederation of Neurology, the problemcommissions, now called ResearchGroups, should form a ResearchCommittee with its own Chairman andSecretary-Treasurer General under theauthority of the President and theSecretary-Treasurer General of the WFN(Walton, 1993). The first Chairman wasProfessor Franceschetti, with DavidKlein as and Secretary-Treasurer

MINUTES OF PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITE COMMITTEE8



General. The idea was that eachResearch Group would in the futurecharge a subscription to the WFN.Unfortunately, fewer than half of theResearch Groups ever paid their sub-scription.

Sigvald Refsum was elected the nextPresident of the WFN at the WorldCongress of Neurology in Barcelona in1973, and he also was re-elected for asecond term four years later. InRefsum’s time as President, John Waltonwas elected Chairman of the ResearchCommittee. The WFN still sufferedfinancial problems due to its insuffi-cient income, and in 1977, a FinanceCommittee was established with GeorgeBruyn as its Chairman. It was now pro-posed that each Research Group shouldattempt to raise funds for the supportof their activities, of which 10 % wouldbe paid to the WFN central funds.

For many years, the WFN Delegates atthe Delegates meeting approved theprogramme of each World Congressbefore it was finalised. This becameincreasingly difficult with the passageof time but in both Vancouver andBuenos Aires the main themes were cho-sen by the delegates in consultationwith the Research Committee and thelocal Scientific Committee. In London,one session that had been suggested bythe Scientific Programme Committeewas replaced by a different theme, cre-ating a slight problem because of lack ofpharmaceutical company interest insupporting it. Increasingly it had cometo be recognised that the ScientificProgramme Committee decided uponthe topics and that the Council ofDelegates could not really change them(2).

Richard Masland was elected Presidentin 1981 during the World Congress ofNeurology in Kyoto. James Toole wasappointed Secretary-Treasurer General.Together, they took the initiative to pub-lish World Neurology, an officialnewsletter of the WFN. George Bruyn,who was the Chairman of the FinanceCommittee, initiated an effort toimprove the financial situation of WFNby establishing a sub-committee forFund-Raising. That committee nevercame off the ground until 2004, in Jun

Kimura’s Presidency. Meantime, theWFN World Congress of Neurology inHamburg revitalized the Federation’sfunds.

John Walton was elected President inDelhi in 1989 and re-elected togetherwith the officers of the Federation inVancouver in 1993. He was the lastPresident to be elected for 2 periods. Itwas decided by the Council of Delegatesin 1995 that the President from then onwould be elected for one four-year peri-od only, and that the First Vice Presidentshould no longer be Chairman of theResearch Committee. Frank CliffordRose was the Secretary-TreasurerGeneral. Klaus Poeck remained as theFirst Vice-President. James Toole wasthe Editor-in-Chief of the Journal ofNeurological Sciences.

During Lord Walton´s Presidency, in1993, the World Health Organizationconvened an important meeting onNeurology in Public Health, where threegoals were defined; (i) Neurology needsto be supported as a discipline and WHOcan help in improving the position ofneurology in the world; (ii) WHO candraw attention to neurological diseases;and (iii) WHO can promote a publichealth facet to the science of neurology.

During the period 1989-1997, severaldramatic political events disturbed theworld political situation; the SovietUnion broke down and a series of newcountries now became members of theWFN. Previously, there had been a sepa-rate Research Group on Education, but itwas decided in Vancouver to constitutea Continuing Education Committee, withKlaus Poeck as its first Chair. TheContinuing Education Committee wascharged with the responsibility of plan-ning educational courses in associationwith future Regional and WorldCongresses. A new Committee on PublicRelations was also established, with DonPaty as its first chair. Johan Aarli tookover as Chair in 1995 because of DonPaty’s illness.

In 1996, the World Federation was regis-tered as a charity in the UnitedKingdom, so that its tax-exempt statuswas assured. The new status of WFNrequired constitutional changes in the

Federation’s committee structure andofficers. These were presented to theCouncil of Delegates in Buenos Aires in1997, and the modified version wasaccepted (3).

James Toole was elected President atthe World Congress in Buenos Aires in1997. The members of the ManagementCommittee were now defined asTrustees with better defined responsi-bilities. The Research Committee invitedthe Management Committee to handleexecutive matters on its behalf. A per-manent Secretariat was now establishedat Chandos Street, in a building adjoin-ing to and owned by The Medical Societyof London.

The offices of the Secretary-General andTreasurer were separated and KeithNewton came in as Administrator. JunKimura came in as the First Vice-President. Theodore Munsat was electedChair of the Research Committee andRobert P. Lisak the Editor-in-Chief ofJournal of Neurological Sciences. TedMunsat, who also was Chair of the WFNContinuing Education Committee,implemented international programs ofcontinuing education, using that of theAmerican Academy of Neurology’sContinuum as a model. According to thenew Constitution, it was decided thatthe Council of Delegates from now onshould meet annually (4).

In 1999, Jagjit Chopra took over as theEditor of World Neurology. James Tooleorganized an important Strategic plan-ning meeting with the WFN Officers atSopwell House outside London. Thegroup agreed on recommendations forthe WFN’s future mission which werepresented to and agreed by the Councilof Delegates.

Several initiatives were taken by the newManagement Committee. For the firsttime, WFN endorsement was defined.“Endorsement is based on prior submis-sion of the programme’s goals, speakersand topics, and differs from co-sponsor-ship which requires active participationby the WFN in the meeting’s planningand execution, such as occurs with theWorld Congress of Neurology” (5).

Toole formed a World Federation of

REGIONAL NEWS 9



Neurology Foundation (WNFo) to takeadvantage of US tax laws to encouragecharitable donations. This organiza-tion has grown over time to becomean important part of WFN activities(6).

Jun Kimura was elected President at theLondon Congress in 2001. He was thefirst President elected from outside USAand Europe. During his period as FirstVice President and Chair of theConstitution and Bye-Laws Committee,he put together, with legal assistance,the Constitution and Bye-Laws by whicha registered charity under UnitedKingdom law can function as a world-wide organization. Johan Aarli waselected First Vice President and RichardGodwin-Austen continued as Secretary-General and Treasurer.

Jun Kimura modified the Committeestructure and decided that eachTrustee should also chair a commit-tee. Ted Munsat, who was the chair ofthe Education Committee, enforcedthe programs of continuing educa-tion, initiated during James Toole´spresidency and these developed intomeaningful projects to help neurolo-gists in developing countries despiteshortage of funds.

During Kimura’s Presidency, the discus-sion first arose whether WorldNeurology should appear only in elec-tronic format, or continue in a paperversion as it has done so far. It wasdecided to continue with the paper ver-sion and the electronic one.

Johan Aarli, in his capacity as Chair ofthe Public Relations and WHO LiaisonCommittee, collaborated with theDepartment of Mental Health at theWHO in the preparation of theNeurology Atlas which was first pub-lished in 2004. The Atlas presented datafrom 109 countries spanning all sixWHO regions and covered over 90% ofthe world population. The frequency ofsome neurological disorders, both inprimary care and in specialist care wasestimated, and the number of neurolog-ical beds compared. The Atlas gave datafor number of neurologists, neurosur-geons, neuropaediatricians and neuro-logical nurses as well as therapeuticdrugs available in primary care and thelevel of subspecialized neurologicalservices (neuroradiology, stroke centres,etc).

In Kimura’s administration, it was alsodecided that Regional Directors (former-ly Regional Vice Presidents) should be

responsible for contact with the corre-sponding WHO office, be in close con-tact with the regional neurological asso-ciation where it existed and that WFNshould work to establish new regionalneurological associations.

Johan A. Aarli was elected President ofthe World Federation of Neurology atthe World Congress in Sydney 2005. Heinitiated the present Africa programmein close collaboration with the WHO.

Johan A. Aarli

References:1. Baeck E. 2005. Ludo van Bogaert (1897 -

1989) and the Bunge Institute. Eur J Neurol,

12:181-188.

2. Walton, J. 1993. The World Federation of

Neurology. Chapter 20. Pp 573-588 in The

Spice of Life. From Northumbria to World

Neurology. Heinemann, London.

3. Rose, FC. Establishing a Permanent

Secretariat. World Neurology:

1997;12(2):1,4.

4. Rose, FC.. National Societies of the World

Federation of Neurology hold the key to its

future. World Neurology 1998;13(3): 1.

5. Munsat T. WFN Initiatives. World

Neurology 1998;13(3).3

6. Toole J. WFN Research and Education

Foundation. World Neurology 2000;15(3):

The 13th Congress ofthe Syrian Society ofNeurosciences (SSN)

6-8 September 2007, Lattakia, Syria

This congress was held in the MeridianHotel, and was attended by about 180participants from Syria and the neigh-boring Arab countries. The programincluded hot topics on cerebrovasculardiseases, polyneuropathies, Alzheimer’sdisease, movement disorders, headache,and CNS infection. The last day of thecongress was devoted to epilepsy andits management.

The social program included tours onthe first day to Kasab, and on the sec-ond day to Slenfeh, where the mar-velous green mountains extend to theMediterranean Sea. Both were followedby a dinner, the former in the Rock

restaurant in Kasab and the latter in theView restaurant in Lattakia.

The congress was organized by theSyrian Society of Neurosciences whichwas established in 1993 and now hasmore than 300 members. The societyhas played an active role in the WFNCME program since 2003 and has heldteaching courses bimonthly, in differentsubjects, in all the Syrian provinces.

Ahmad Khalifa, MD, FAANPresident of Syrian Society ofNeurosciencesPresident Chapter of Epilepsy

First Annual NeurologyResearch Day, Pakistan

The Section of Neurology, Shifa Collegeof Medicine & Shifa InternationalHospital proudly hosted the FirstAnnual Neurology Research Day forMedical Students and Residents onSeptember 1st, 2007. This activity wasmeant for medical students and resi-dents in the fields of neurology, neuro-surgery, radiology, rehabilitation medi-cine, pediatrics and psychiatry to pro-vide them with an opportunity to show-case their original research in the formof posters or platform presentations. Itis scheduled to be held every year in latesummer/early fall. There were threepresentations for the medical students’platform session and five presentationsin the category of residents’ platformpresentations. Two posters were dis-played by the medical students and six

REGIONAL NEWS

REGIONAL NEWS10



posters were displayed by the residents.

There were cash prizes and awards com-prised of a plaque, a certificate and10,000.00 rupees in cash for the bestpresenters and the winners were: strokeawareness among at-risk patients - terti-ary care experiences from Rawalpindi/Islamabad (by Yasir Mateen fromRawalpindi Medical College in the cate-gory of medical students’ platform);awareness of health care professionalstowards brain death, organ transplanta-tion and euthanasia (by Dr. Hassan Alifrom Shifa International Hospital in thecategory of residents’ platform presen-tation); fatal primary intraventricularhemorrhage in the third trimester ofpregnancy with rescue of the baby (byDr. Shaista Tamizuddin from ShifaInternational Hospital in the category ofresidents’ poster presentation); andknowledge and perceptions of physi-cians about early management of acuteischemic stroke (by Sidra Sheikh fromShifa College of Medicine in the catego-ry of medical students’ platform presen-tation).

Prof. Akhtar Ahmed, one of the mosteminent neurologists in Pakistan, waspresented with a Lifetime AchievementAward in recognition of his lifetimeefforts in the field of neurology. He hadreceived a gold medal at graduation, theonly medal awarded in modern times,and he has remained pre-eminentthroughout his academic career. Trainedabroad, he nevertheless made everyeffort to help neurology flourish as aspecialty in his own country. His effortsat that time were recognized by theCollege of Physicians and Surgeons ofPakistan by declaring his department aCentre of Excellence. The tribute to Prof.Akhtar Ahmed was presented by Dr.Arsalan Ahmad, one of his students andnow Head of the Section of Neurology atShifa International Hospital.

This 1st Annual Research Day alsomarked the initiation of the Prof. AkhtarAhmed Lectureship delivered by Dr.Muhammad Saleem Ilyas, AssociateProfessor of Neurology, Director ofContinuing Medical Education &Continuing Professional Development,Dow University of Health Sciences, on‘Research in Neurology in Pakistan—

how and why?’ He elaborated upon basicresearch, applied research, steps in con-ducting research and in the end pre-sented a whole new list of researchareas for young and aspiringresearchers.

A neurology quiz encompassing ques-

tions about neurology, history, basicand clinical neurology and cutting edgeresearch in neurology was also conducted.

The session concluded with a vote ofthanks by Dr. Ismail A. Khatri

XVth Annual Conference of the Indian Academy ofNeurology (A joint meeting with the Association ofBritish Neurologists)October 4-8, 2007, Mumbai, India

Inaugural Function

Prof J.S. Chopra, Editor-in-Chief, World Neurology and Founder President,Indian Academy of Neurology receiving an Award from Dr R.S. Wadia,President IAN, in recognition of his outstanding contribution and service to theAcademy

After my departure to Qatar for a con-tract in December 2005, the CME activi-ties have been kept running smoothlyand CME materials and other valuablebooks and journals donated by the WFNand Dr. Jock Murray have been distrib-uted in the neurology services along thecountry. At this point, the cooperationof the acting head of the CME Dr. RafaelDominguez has been crucial due to hisenthusiasm and dedication. An impor-tant remark to be considered is the dig-italisation and further distribution inCuba of diverse AAN VHS kindly donat-ed by Dr. Murray. These precious mate-rials are: Neurophthalmology, Neuro -otology, Muscle Diseases

As there are diverse limitations toaccess internet and also the increasingpopulation of neurologists and otherrelated specialists that clearly outnum-ber the limited amount of CME numbersthat are systematically posted by theWFN (12 copies for issue), I decided toscan and digitalise the most importantCME series and burned in a CD and dis-tributed along the island to the majorneurological services, together with theVHS digitalised material. These 18 CMEtitles include: Infectious Diseases, MS,Cognitive Disorders, Headaches, MuscleDisease, Stroke Management, TropicalNeurology, Neurogenetics I & II, Epilepsy

I & II, Trauma, Neurological Compli -cations of Substance Abuse, Critical CareNeurology, Dementia, NeurologicalComplications of Organ Transplant,Movement Disorders.

It is important to say that this digi-talised material has been very much wel-comed by colleagues who appreciate theimmediateness and availability of thesesubjects that they can reproduce forother neurologists, neurophysiologistsand neurosurgeons. For this intense anddemanding activity, supporting techni-cal devices were kindly funded by theWFN and more recently by the CanadianNeurological Society through CarrieBecker. We all recognise and appreciatethis valuable support. In addition, thegreat volume of diverse journals andbooks donated by the WFN and Dr. JockMurray have been allocated to librariesin Santiago de Cuba (Hospital Dr. JuanBruno Zayas) and the National Instituteof Neurology, which I personally carriedand delivered last February, togetherwith updated issues of the WFN’sJournal of the Neurological Sciences. Itis important to mention the enthusiasmand interest demonstrated by Dra.Gloria Lara, Vice Director of the NNI, forthe appropriate reception and distribu-tion of this material. She has performedan excellent job distributing these pre-

cious shipments to the different neuro-logical services in Havana and through-out the country. In spite of my havingbeing abroad for a time, CME activitieshave been kept running smoothlybecause we have a committed andenthusiastic CME acting coordinator, Dr.Dominguez, who has provided continu-ity for this activity. The only negativeaspect is that he is not yet receiving CMEmaterials at his current address inSantiago and there have been somedelays with groups’ CME reports. Forfurther documentation of these activi-ties, I will post to WFN headquarters inLondon samples of the scanned and dig-italised material.

I would also like to mention the con-stant support from Keith Newton andProf. Ted Munsat for this CME activity inour country.

Dr. Francisco Javier Ruiz MiyaresHamad General HospitalDepartment of NeurologyDoha, State of Qatar

REGIONAL NEWS 11



CME Report from Cuba (Period 2006-07)

Visit of Dr Doug Postels to Malawi as WFN Visiting Professor

Dr Postels with Dr George Changaluka (left) and DrRachel Lotha (right), pediatric registrars at QECH

Making Rounds in the Malaria Research Ward

REGIONAL NEWS12



November 1, 2007, is the deadline forsubmitting abstracts for the 2008Scientific Program at the AAN 60thAnnual Meeting in Chicago. The AANAnnual Meeting is one of the world’slargest scientific programs in neurologywith more than 1,600 scientific presen-tations. The AAN is encouraging sub-missions for the Integrated Neuro -science program on Tropical Neurology.

The abstract submission site is availablefrom early September. Abstracts can be

submitted online by visiting the AANwebsite at www.aan.com. First authorsmay submit a maximum of twoabstracts. Previously presented/published abstracts will be acceptedwith prior presentation disclosure.

Please note that the AAN’s scientificjournal Neurology® has waived theright-of-first-refusal requirement forabstract publication.

For more information, contact Erin

Jackson at [email protected] or (651)695-2704.

Gretchen L. Birbeck, MD MPH DTMHMichigan State UniversityDirector & Associate ProfessorInternational Neurologic & PsychiatricEpidemiology 324 West Fee HallEast Lansing, MI 48824Tele: +1-517-884-0277Fax: +1-517-884-0275

American Academy of Neurology Hosts Tropical Neurology program

This exciting symposium, jointlyendorsed by the WFN and WHO wastruly a landmark event exactly 100 yearsafter Alzheimer’s description of his firstcase. The event in Kenya highlightedneuroprotective mechanisms in brainageing and risk factors for dementia. Italso featured several advances in epi-demiological studies and developmentsin treatment and management ofdementia. This second meeting of itskind was attended by 100 delegatesfrom 25 countries. The symposium wasconvened by Profs Raj Kalaria (UK-Kenya) and Piero Antuono (WFN, USA)and the programme engaged experts

from several coun-tries, who have wideexperience in epi-demiological studiesas well as bearing firsthand knowledge ofdementia, particularlyAlzheimer’s diseasein their own coun-tries. However, aremarkable elementof the symposiumwas that young inves-tigators from Africacould be sponsored toattend it.

The symposium was invaluable andtimely in that the rising ageing pop-ulation worldwide even in Africancountries is expected to increasefrequency of non-communicablediseases such as ischaemic heartdisease, hypertension, diabetes,psychiatric disorders and stroke.Neurodegenerative dementias,stroke-related dementia and late-onset depression will also increasein the developing countries whichare rapidly undergoing demograph-ic transition.

The three day symposium began with

warm karibuni from Dr Sam Gatere(Emeritus Prof, Kenya) and the officiallaunch of the Kenya Alzheimer’sAssociation (KAA). Incumbent officers(Prof David Ndetei and Mrs StellaGatere) of the KAA spoke about the bur-den of ageing and need for care even inKenya where communicable diseasesseem to take precedence. The openingsession ended with a delightful talk onArt and Dementia (Angiola Fasanaro,Italy). The programme included some70 communications on various aspectsof dementia and how it impacts thedeveloping world. Current activities ofthe Mental Health section of the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO), of theWorld Federation of Neurology (WFN)and the 10/66 study of the Alzheimer’sInternational (UK) were reviewed. It wasalso a forum to tease out prevalence/incidence estimates from cross-culturalpopulations in developing countries andcompare with those in Europe and USA(Jose Luchsinger, USA; Rob Friedland,USA; Kathleen Hall, USA; Sola Ogunnyi,Nigeria; Valery Feigin, New Zealand;).Reviews on genetics (Julie Williams;Stuart Pickering-Brown; Henry Houlden,UK) and gene-environmental interac-tions (Deb Lahiri, USA; Donald Lehman,UK) and influences such as physicalactivity, stress and diet (Elizabeta

Brain Ageing and Dementia in Developing CountriesReport on the WFN-WHO-IBRO co-sponsored symposium on neurobiology of

dementia: epidemiology, genetics and clinical perspectives in collaboration with the Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle General

Hospital and Newcastle University, United Kingdom10th – 13th April, 2007

Safari Park Hotel Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

Convenors beating drums to gather all (Piero Antuonoon left)

CALENDAR 13



20075th Meeting of the Asian Society forNeuro-Oncology November 2-4, 2007

Istanbul, Turkeywww.asno2007.org/

5th International Congress onVascular DementiaNovember 8-11, 2007

Budapest, Hungaryhttp://www.kenes.com/vascular/

Clinical Update: Epilepsy in Adultsand Adolescents November 9, 2007

London, UKwww.rsm.ac.uk/academ/e10-2-epilepsy.php

12th Asian-Australasian Society ofNeurological Surgeons / 13th WorldFederation of NeurosurgicalSocieties Interim Meeting November 18-21, 2007

Nagoya, Japanwww.aacns07.umin.ne.jp/

3rd International Congress on Brain& Behaviour November 28-December 2, 2007

Thessalonoki, Greece http://www.psychiatry.gr/congress

17th International Congress onParkinson’s Disease and RelatedDisorders December 9-13, 2007

Amsterdam, The Netherlandswww.parkinson2007.de/

2008EuroNeuro 2008 January 17-19, 2008

Maastricht, The Netherlandswww.euroneuro.eu/

3rd Biennial Conference of theInternational Society for BipolarDisordersJanuary 27-28, 2008

Delhi, IndiaJanuary 30, 2008

Agra, Indiawww.kenes.com/isbd/

4th Annual Update SymposiumSeries on Clinical Neurology andNeuphysiologyFebruary 18-19, 2008

Tel Aviv, Israelwww..neurophysiology-symposium.com

CALENDAR

Mukaetova-Ladinska, UK) provided fur-ther ‘food for thought.’ Several speak-ers focused on treatment (Paul Francis,UK) including herbals (Elaine Perry, UK)for stabilizing and improving treatment

and care of dementia sufferers (AkiraHomma, Japan; ES Krishnamoorty,India). Professors Sam Gatere (Kenya)and Raj Kalaria (UK-Kenya) were privileged to be interviewed about

dementia by a prominent TV station inNairobi.

Raj Kalaria (WHO-IBRO) and Piero Antuono (WFN)

Junior Travelling Fellowship—A ReportThe Junior Travelling Fellowshipenabled me to attend to the 59th Annualmeeting of the American Academy ofNeurology in Boston, USA, from April28th to May 5th, 2007. I was able toupdate my knowledge for my regularmedical practice in Neurology and howthis has already influenced in my dailyactivities, for me, my patients, the hos-pital and certainly the community. Yourassistance has been invaluable so as topresent the scientific investigation donein our institute that had a good accept-ance among our different colleaguesfrom all over the world, making goodcomments about them.

Dr. Pablo BonardoHospital Britanico Servicio deNeurology, Buenos Aires, Argentina

I attended the 27th InternationalEpilepsy Congress in Suntec citySingapore between 8th-12th July 2007.It was a memorable experience for me toattend such a high profile scientificmeeting that attracted participants

from all over the world; I learned manynew things, made new contacts and dis-covered new opportunities. The pro-gramme itself was quite rich and theCongress venue was a splendid sight. Isincerely want to appreciate the WFNfor the award of the travelling fellow-ship without which I wouldn’t have beenable to attend this programme.

Dr Mustapha Adekunle F.Nigeria

As the winner of a Junior TravellingFellowship 2007 of WFN, I had a greatopportunity to attend the XIIIInternational Headache SocietyCongress which was held in Stockholm,from June 28th to July 2nd. TheCongress was really a great success,with more than 1500 participants fromall over the world. The scientific pro-gramme was of a very high academicquality, covering basic, clinical, thera-peutical and research aspects of alltypes of headache. The topics were veryinteresting, especially those dealingwith neurobiology, genetics and chroni-

fication of headaches. During the con-ference, I presented my scientific paperentitled: “The clinical presentation andaffective disorders in burning mouthsyndrome“ in the Poster session D2-Chronification of headaches.

I also took part in the meeting of theSubcomittee of the young Trainees andNeurologists of the InternationalHeadache Society, where we had theopportunity to discuss important topicsconcerning educational, research andgrant possibilities and activities foryoung neurologists interested in thefield of headaches.

I also enjoyed the social apects of theconference and the great Swedish hospi-tality. I would like to express my greatgratitude to the World Federation ofNeurology for giving me the opportuni-ty to attend this great Conference.

Dr Milija D. MijajlovicInstitute of Neurology, Clinical Centerof Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia

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Volume 13, issue 8, October 2006 ISSN 0967-5868

Journal of

Clinical Neuroscience

Clinical application of transcranial Doppler monitoring for embolic

signals

M.R. Azarpazhooh, B.R. Chambers 799

Physiologic characterisation of glioblastoma multiforme using

MRI-based hypoxia mapping, chemical shift imaging, perfusion and

diffusion maps

Kathryn M. McMillan, Baxter P. Rogers, Aaron S. Field,

Angela R. Laird, Jason P. Fine, M. Elizabeth Meyerand 811

Clinical outcome of severe head injury using three different ICP

and CPP protocol-driven therapies

Sheng-Jean Huang, Wei-Chen Hong, Yin-Yi Han, Yuan-Sen Chen,

Chung-Shi Wen, Yi-Shin Tsai, Yong-Kwang Tu 818

Chronic subdural haematomas and anticoagulation or anti-thrombotic

therapy

Tilmann Rust, Nicole Kiemer, Albert Erasmus 823

Optokinetic nystagmus as an assessment of visual attention to

divided stimuli

Isla M. Williams, Lin Mulhall, Jason Mattingley, Christian Lueck,

Larry Abel 828

S-100B and NSE: markers of initial impact of subarachnoid

haemorrhage and their relation to vasospasm and outcome

Matthias Oertel, Ute Schumacher, David L. McArthur,

Stefanie Kastner, Dieter-Karsten Boker 834

Microsurgical anatomy of the hypoglossal nerve

Gulsah Bademci, M. Gazi Yasargil 841

Diffuse pachymeningeal enhancement

Kumar M. Prakash, Pavanni Ratnagopal 848

The offi cial journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, the Australian Association of Neurologists, the Australian and New Zealand Society for Neuropathology, the Taiwan Neurosurgical Society and the Asian/Australian Society of Neurological Surgeons

Editor-in-Chief:

Andrew H. KayeThe Melbourne Neuroscience Centre, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience publishes articles on clinical neurosurgery and neurology and the related neurosciences such as neuro-pathology, neuroradiology, neuro-ophthalmology and neuro-physiology.

Co-Editors

Sigeaki Kobayashi Matsumoto, JapanNicolas de TriboletGeneva, SwitzerlandElsdon StoreyAustralia

Associate Editors in Neurology

M. KiernanAustraliaR. GerratyAustralia

Ranked 51st out of the 138 journals in the ISI Surgery category and 85th out of the 146 journals in the ISI Clinical Neurology category!

Editor-in-chief:

Peter Paul de DeynDepartment of Neurology, General Hospital Middelheim, Antwerp, Belgium

C.S. RaineDepartment of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

C.M. PoserDepartment of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA

Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery acts as an international forum for papers of high scientifi c standard that are of interest to Neurosurgeons world-wide.

ReviewNeuromuscular disorders in critical illness – L. Pandit, A. Agrawal (Mangalore, India) 621

Original articlesLaterality does not influence early mortality in MCA ischemic stroke – I. Mateo, A. Pinedo, I. Escalza, J.C. Garcia-Monco (Vizcaya, Spain) 628Vascular cognitive impairment in patients with late-onset seizures after an ischemic stroke – J. De Reuck, M. De Clerck, G. Van Maele

(Ghent, Belgium) 632Cardiovascular risk factors in patients aged 85 or older with ischemic stroke – A. Arboix, M. Miguel, E. Císcar, L. García-Eroles,

J. Massons, M. Balcells (Barcelona, Spain) 638The interleukin-10 levels as a potential indicator of positive response to interferon beta treatment of multiple sclerosis patients –

H. Bartosik-Psujek, Z. Stelmasiak (Lublin, Poland) 644Medically refractory epilepsy associated with temporal lobe ganglioglioma: Characteristics and postoperative outcome – A. Radhakrishnan,

M. Abraham, V.V. Radhakrishnan, S.P. Sarma, K. Radhakrishnan (Trivandrum, India) 648Alleviation of intracranial air using carbon dioxide gas during intraventricular tumor resection – T. Beppu, K. Ogasawara, A. Ogawa

(Morioka, Japan) 655Clinico-pathological and immunohistochemical characteristics associated to recurrence/regrowth of craniopharyngiomas – M.L. Tena-Suck,

C. Salinas-Lara, R.I. Arce-Arellano, D. Rembao-Bojórquez, D. Morales-Espinosa, J. Sotelo, O. Arrieta 661

Case reportsRespiratory failure in a patient with antecedent poliomyelitis: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or post-polio syndrome? – S.-i. Terao, N. Miura,

A. Noda (Aichi, Japan), M. Yoshida, Y. Hashizume, H. Ikeda, G. Sobue (Japan) 670Bilateral C5 motor paralysis following anterior cervical surgery—a case report – K.S. David, R.D. Rao (Milwaukee, WI, USA) 675Correlation of magnetic resonance images with neuropathology in acute Wernicke’s encephalopathy – Y.-T. Liu, J.-L. Fuh, J.-F. Lirng, A.F.-Y. Li,

D.M.-T. Ho, S.-J. Wang (Taipei, Taiwan) 682Subacute aseptic meningitis as neurological manifestation of primary SjÖgren’s syndrome – R. Rossi, M. Valeria Saddi (Nuoro, Italy) 688Thin corpus callosum and amyotrophy in spastic paraplegia—Case report and review of literature – B. Winner, C. Gross, G. Uyanik,

W. Schulte-Mattler, R. Lürding, J. Marienhagen, U. Bogdahn (Regensburg, Germany), C. Windpassinger (Graz, Austria), U. Hehr, J. Winkler (Regensburg, Germany) 692

Camptocormia or Pisa syndrome in multiple system atrophy – J. S awek (Gdansk, Poland), M. Derejko (Warszawa, Poland), P. Lass, M. Dubaniewicz (Gdansk, Poland) 699

“Frontal variant Alzheimer’s disease”: A reappraisal – A.J. Larner (Liverpool, UK) 705Transient tetraplegia after cervical facet joint injection for chronic neck pain administered without imaging guidance – J.G. Heckmann,

C. Maihöfner, S. Lanz, C. Rauch, B. Neundörfer (Erlangen, Germany) 709Adie’s pupils in paraneoplastic ganglionopathy with ANNA-1 – J.V. Campellone, A. Hageboutros (Camden, NJ, USA) 712

Book reviewsHead injury: Pathophysiology and Management – D. Van Dam (Wilrijk, Belgium) 715

(Contents continued on OBC)

Advisory Editors

Keep up-to-date on the latest developments in Neurosurgery

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Leading resources in clinical neurology!

Official Journal of the European Paediatric Neurology Society

Volume 10, Number 1January 2006

Parkinsonism&Related Disorders

I N T H I S I S S U E

Volume 12 Number 7 2006 ISSN 1353-8020

Official Journal of the WFN Research Group on Parkinsonism and Related Disorders

Parkinson’s disease and family historyClinical characterization of LRRK2 G2019S Parkinson patients

Mutations in the parkin Gene

Psychosis and depression in PD

Paroxetine in multiple system atrophy

GAITRite system evaluation ofparkinsonian bradykinesia

Estimating the value of novel interventions for Parkinson's disease

ERP and cognition in PD

Vascular parkinsonism

Central pontine myelinolysis andextrapontine myelinolysis

This journal now has online submission at:http://authors.elsevier.com/journal/parkreldis

VOLUME 123 NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006 ISSN 0304-3959PUBLISHED MONTHLY 123 (3) 219–346

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Acute Pain

Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical

Brain & Development

Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery

Clinical Neurology News

Clinical Neurophysiology

Epilepsy & Behavior

Epilepsy Research

European Journal of Paediatric Neurology

European Journal of Pain

Experimental Neurology

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience

Journal of Neuroimmunology

Journal of the Neurological Sciences

Journal of Pain

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

The Lancet Neurology

Neurobiology of Aging

Neuromuscular Disorders

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Neurotherapeutics (NeuroRX)

Pain

Parkinsonism and Related Disorders

Pediatric Neurology

Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine

Seizure: European Journal of Epilepsy

Sleep Medicine

Sleep Medicine Reviews

Surgical Neurology

For a complete list of neurology products, detailed information on the titles above and online access to the journal articles, please visit

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OBITUARY16



John Newsom-Davis was killed in aroad accident in Romania 24 August2007. He was the leading researcher onmyasthenia gravis of his generation.Although he retired in 1998, he wasstill active as a clinician scientist, andat the time of his premature demise,he was busy organising the huge multi-centre trial of thymectomy to decide ifthis operation still has a place in mod-ern treatment of myasthenia gravis.

John Newsom Davis was born inHertfordshire 18 October 1932. In theRAF, 1951-53, he was trained to flyMeteors and Vampires, an unusualachievement for a national serviceman.He qualified in medicine at Cambridgeand the Middlesex Hospital MedicalSchool in 1960 and trained in clinicaland experimental neurology at theInstitute of Neurology, Queen Squarein the 1960s. He was at the CornellMedical Center in New York 1969-70,and then joined the consultant staff atthe Institute of Neurology and RoyalFree Hospital, London in 1970. Hebecame the first MRC Clinical ResearchProfessor in 1980. In 1987, he movedto Oxford as the Chairman andProfessor of Clinical Neurology. In hisretirement, John Newsom-Davis servedas editor of the journal Brain 1997-2004 and he was President of theAssociation of British Neurologists1999-2000. He was elected a Fellow ofthe Royal Society in 1961 and awardeda CBE in 1996.

John’s interest in neuroscience startedwith electromyographic studies withTom Sears, but he soon focused onmyasthenia gravis immunology, andremained for more than 25 years theworld’s authority on the autoimmunepathogenesis not only of this, but alsoof many closely related neuromusculardiseases. When he began his studies onmyasthenia gravis immunology,Lindstrom and co-workers had alreadydemonstrated the presence of antibod-ies to the muscle acetylcholine recep-tor in their sera. John was the first todemonstrate how patients with myas-thenia gravis improved after plasmaexchange, and that the concentrationof these antibodies fell during thetreatment. Some patients with myas-thenia gravis are “seronegative”, i.e.such antibodies are not detectable intheir sera, but these patients alsoimproved with plasma exchange andhis group subsequently went on toshow that some, but not all, seronega-tive patients had antibodies to anotherprotein of the motor end plate, themuscle specific kinase, the MUSK pro-tein. The results of his research havealso increased our understanding ofthe full spectrum of non-immune,genetically determined congenitalmyasthenia gravis, where the common-est mutation sites appear to be theacetylcholine receptor epsilon-subunitand rapsyn.

A major contribution was to demon-strate how plasma exchange improvedthe clinical weakness in Lambert-Eatonmyasthenic syndrome, indicating thatthis too was an autoimmune disease,and his group went on to describeautoantibodies to voltage-gated calci-um channels (VGCC) in over 90% ofpatients, and to show how these anti-bodies lead to VGCC loss and impairedquantal release of transmitter.Following on from this, he thendemonstrated similarly the role ofantibodies to voltage-gated potassiumchannels in peripheral nerve hyperex-

citability including cramp-fascicula-tion syndrome. Further work hasshown their presence also in limbicencephalitis and Morvan’s syndrome,extending the field of autoimmunechannelopathies. John had a specialability to attract young researchers,both clinical and basic scientists, andhis group has a unique position in con-temporary neuroimmunology. His lab-oratory became a leading centre forneuroimmunology and welcomed neu-rologists from all over the world.

John was an excellent lecturer and vis-ited neurological departments world-wide. Although very busy, he alwaysseemed relaxed, with concern for hiscolleagues and friends and interest intheir work. He retired as a professor in1998, transferring his energies to ABNand Brain and thence to the thymecto-my trial, but he left in place a groupthat continues to provide new findingsand leadership in the fields of autoim-mune and genetic ion channel dis-eases. He will be sorely missed as ayouthful and inspiring clinician andneuroscientist.

John Michael Newsom-Davis, neurolo-gist: born Harpenden, Hertfordshire 18October 1932; Lecturer, UniversityDepartment of Clinical Neurology,National Hospital for Diseases of theNervous System 1967-69, ConsultantNeurologist 1970-80; NeurologicalResearch Fellow, Cornell MedicalCenter, New York Hospital 1969-70;MRC Clinical Research Professor ofNeurology, Royal Free Hospital MedicalSchool and Institute of Neurology1980-87; Professor of ClinicalNeurology, Oxford University 1987-98(Emeritus); FRS 1991; CBE 1996; editor,Brain 1997-2004; married 1963Rosemary Schmid (one son, twodaughters); died Adjud, Romania 24August 2007.

Johan A. Aarli

ObituaryProfessor John Newsom-Davis

1932-2007

Documents

WORLD NEUROLOGY honour to welcome the neurologi-cal societies of China, Congo, Iran, Libya, Nigeria and Senegal as new WFN mem-bers. The number of member societies is now 102, and