This year the European Society of Radiology (ESR) will again invite three national radiological societies and a partner discipline to take part in the popular ‘ESR meets’ programme during its annual meeting, the European Congress of Radiology (ECR). Delegations from Russia, home country of ECR 2014 President, Professor Valentin Sinitsyn, Mexico and Serbia will present their latest achievements in imaging. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) will focus on the cooperation between cardiologists and radiologists in the field of cardiac imaging. The European Federation of Radiographers Societies (EFRS) will also take part in joint sessions with Russian radiographers, to stress the role of this important partner discipline.

The Russian Association of Radiology (RAR), led by its president, Prof. Rozhkova, and Professor Igor Tyurin, chief expert in diagnostic radiology at the Russian Ministry of Health, will concentrate on CT perfusion in differential diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) pathology and advances in imaging of pancreatic masses. Prof. Tyurin will also give a presentation on tuberculosis management, a real challenge for a national radiological service in a country as big as Russia. The panel discussion at the end of the session will focus on future developments in Russian radiology and explore which paths to take.

Serbia will be another guest of honour at ECR 2014, and the Serbian delegation will provide a brief insight into the various radiological techniques available in Serbia today, starting with the interventional treatment of varicoceles. “For decades, interventional radiology has been playing an important role in the treatment of spermatic vein insufficiency. Almost every type of embolisation device has been used, as well as sclerosing agents. Though some studies suggest that the microsurgical varicocele repair approach may result in less recurrence and fewer complications than other techniques, the level of efficacy of interventional radiology in the varicocele repair is high and the results are comparable with contemporary surgical treatment,” said Professor Milos Lučić, President of the Serbian Association of Radiology.

The following talk will focus on MRI in non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies. “This modality has been proven to be very useful in the differentiation of non-ischaemic and ischaemic cardiomyopathies. In cases of non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies, cardiac MRI may help significantly in narrowing the differential diagnosis,” Lučić said.

The final presentation will shed light on the role of prenatal MRI in foetal CNS abnormalities through a case-based pictorial review. “MRI provides a unique opportunity to study CNS development in vivo. Its higher contrast resolution compared to prenatal ultrasonography allows better visualisation of ultrasonographically occult normal CNS structures, as well as morphological and structural abnormalities. In clinical practice, prenatal MRI is becoming an essential tool for evaluating the wide spectrum of both foetal abnormalities and foetuses in pregnancies presenting with different risks,” Lučić said.

The Mexican delegation, led by Professor Carlos Rodríguez Treviño, President of the Mexican Society of Radiology and Imaging, and Professor Janet Tanus-Hajj, President of the Mexican Federation of Radiology and Imaging, will offer a session entirely dedicated to cancer imaging. The first talk will focus on abdominal imaging in oncology, in particular oncologic gastrointestinal diseases, as well as liver and colon cancer. “Amoebic liver disease was a very important health problem for many years in Mexico, but it has now been controlled through improved sanitation. Radiography, ultrasound and computed tomography have been used as important imaging procedures to demonstrate the liver abscess and the extension of the lesion. In this century, liver cancer has been seen more frequently, and, again, imaging has been important for its diagnosis. In both diseases, interventional radiology has been useful; in the first one to drain the abscess and in the liver cancer basically for biopsy and derivate purposes,” Rodríguez Treviño said.

The second presentation will show the importance and increasing frequency of interventional procedures in cancer treatment. “An increasing number of radiologists have decided to train in interventional radiology and several oncology institutions have set interventional radiology protocols. The most frequent interventional procedures are performed in the liver, kidney and lung. Thermo-ablation, vascular access for chemotherapy and tumour embolisation are common procedures,” he said.

Professor Janet Tanus-Hajj will for her part speak about modern issues in oncologic ultrasound. “Ultrasound is the main imaging method in the diagnosis of neoplasms. When the diagnosis is made, it is an excellent method to carry out biopsies in different places, and the best guide to conduct radiofrequency ablation and to perform interventional procedures like chemoembolisation. It is also the best way, with the use of contrast agents, to do the follow-up after these procedures. Even in the surgical room, ultrasound is an excellent guide to get directly to the tumour. For the staging of the tumour, it is a complementary study for all the imaging methods like CT, MR, etc.,” she said.

Cardiac diseases will also be in the spotlight during the ‘ESR meets’ programme, with a dedicated joint session held by the ESR and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The presentations will stress the role of imaging in assessing myocardial viability, acute chest pain, valvular heart disease and interventions. “In the last 40 years at least, imaging has become the cornerstone in the diagnosis of cardiovascular medicine. From the first coronary angiography to current impressive developments in ECHO, MRI and computed tomography techniques, cardiovascular medicine has enjoyed unprecedented support in the study of not only the structure, but also of the function and pathophysiology of the heart and vessels. Practically, the entire spectrum of cardiac diseases is studied through the use of different imaging methods,” said Professor Panos Vardas, President of the ESC, who will preside over the session together with Prof. Sinitsyn.

Cardiac imaging is an increasingly attractive field for radiologists, as shown by the ever growing membership of the European Society of Cardiac Radiology, which now exceeds 1,000 members. “Cardiac radiology is increasingly popular, it is an exciting field in the world of medicine,” Sinitsyn said.

For Vardas, the ESC’s involvement in the ‘ESR meets’ programme is a step towards closer cooperation between cardiologists and radiologists. “Our participation is another token of our intention to be close to radiologists, a much respected and admired medical specialty,” he said.

Radiographers will also take part in joint sessions in the ‘EFRS meets Russia’ programme. The sessions, presided by Sija Geers-van Gemeren, Vice-President of the European Federation of Radiographers Societies (EFRS), and Sevda Mamedova, co-founder of the Russian Society of Radiographers, will feature talks on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI studies in cardiology and cardiac MDCT in children with congenital heart diseases, and stress the role of the radiographer in MRI safety and polytrauma MDCT image post-processing.

Friday, March 7, 10:30–12:00
ESR meets Russia
EM 1: Crossroads of diagnostic imaging in the big country

Saturday, March 8, 10:30–12:00
ESR meets Serbia
EM 2: A guided tour of radiology in Serbia

Saturday, March 8, 16:00–17:30
ESR meets ESC (European Society of Cardiology)
EM 3: The role of imaging in the cardiac patient

Sunday, March 9, 10:30–12:00
ESR meets Mexico
EM 4: Oncology imaging in Mexico

Saturday, March 8, 14:00–15:30
EFRS meets Russia
EM 5: The role of the radiographer in image acquisition and processing

Download a PDF version of the ECR 2014 Preliminary Programme here.

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