6th WMS Satellite teaching course: 28-29th September 2008

Teaching objective:

To improve the diagnostic competence of professionals dealing with patients with neuromuscular diseases.

Target audience:

Medical specialists (paediatricians, neurologists, paediatric neurologists, geneticists, neuropathologists) and medical specialists in training, and also other attendees of the WMS congress.

Rationale:

There is a general feeling that diagnosing neuromuscular diseases is cumbersome. This is mainly due to the fact that there are hundreds of different neuromuscular diseases, and in addition each disease in itself is rare. However, taken together the number of patients with neuromuscular disorders is considerable. Different specialists are confronted with patients suffering from a neuromuscular disorder during clinical practice. Neuromuscular disorders may occur in newborns, but also develop at an advanced age. They can have a hereditary origin, an auto-immune pathogenesis, a neurodegenerative nature or they can occur as a complication of a systemic disease.

Diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases requires special skills. It all starts with asking the right questions (clinical and genetic history taking) and performing a thorough clinical examination including manual muscle testing and functional tests. History taking and clinical examination form the basis for additional ancillary investigations which might include electrophysiological studies, muscle or nerve biopsy, genetic testing, muscle imaging, metabolic studies, etc. During higher specialist training it is usual that little attention is paid to neuromuscular disorders. Due to general lack of familiarity with this group of diseases misdiagnosis is not infrequent. It is of utmost importance to establish a correct diagnosis, not only because sometimes neuromuscular diseases are treatable, but also because a precise diagnosis is required for prognostication and genetic counselling. This course provides a context to develop these skills through discussion of patients and review of biopsies. Feedback from the first five courses (held from 2003 onwards) was overwhelmingly positive.

Click here to download the full programme.

TREAT NMD is able to grant 6 fellowships of 500 Euros for participants from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to the 6th WMS satellite teaching course.
For details of the grant and application form click here.

Attendants: max. 40

Venue:

Bioscience Centre, International Centre for Life and Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne

Cost:

£235 without accommodation
£370 with 2 nights accommodation

Cost includes course fees, 2 dinners, 1 lunch amd mid morning/afternoon refreshments