Spinal cord diseases will be the topic of the 2020 International meeting of the French Society of Neurology, which will be held on June 10 and 11, 2021 at the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière in Paris. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the congress will take place in a hybrid format, both face-to-face and virtual.
The aim of this congress devoted to the various disease processes (vascular, tumoral, inflammatory, etc.) that can affect the spinal cord is to provide the neurologist, whatever his or her subspecialty, with the knowledge needed to identify the cause of the myelopathy and to institute the appropriate treatment, sometimes as an emergency. Although knowledge about spinal cord diseases has lagged behind that of diseases involving the brain, considerable progress has been made over the last decades, both in terms of diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.
The scientific committee of the congress has built an exciting program including six sessions and four major conferences, welcoming renowned international experts.
The first day will be opened with a lecture by MI Vargas (Geneva) who will provide an “Overview of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging techniques of the spine and spinal cord”. The first session devoted to spinal cord vascular diseases will deal with spinal cord vascular anatomy (O. Eker, Lyon) and imaging (S. Auliac, Suresnes), spinal cord infarcts (D. Leys, Lille) and arteriovenous malformations (G. Rodesch, Suresnes). This will be followed by a session on degenerative cervical myelopathy (H. Pascal-Moussellard, Paris) and syringomyelia and hydromyelia (E. Emery, Caen). The third session will be dedicated to intramedullary tumors with communications on the management of intramedullary spinal cord tumors (F. Parker, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) and on the challenges in diagnosis and management of adult spinal cord gliomas (C. Campello, Marseille). The last session of the first day on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), will include communications on new advances in genetics and gene therapy opportunities in ALS (S. Millecamps, Paris), phenotypic variability in ALS (P. Couratier, Limoges), clinical and genetic classification of SMA from children to adults (I. Desguerre, Paris), treatment of adult SMA (E. Pegoraro, Padova) and the challenges of their clinical evaluation (P. Laforet, Garches). The first day will end with a lecture by A. Durr (Paris) on “Clinical and genetic update of hereditary spastic paraparesis.”.
The first session of the second day will be dedicated to inflammatory myelopathies with communications on the diagnostic dilemma of acute and subacute myelopathy (R. Marignier, Bron), the modern therapies of neuromyelitis optica (P. Cabre, Fort-de-France), the prognostic value of spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in multiple sclerosis patients (A. Kerbrat, Rennes), the biological mechanisms, therapeutic perspectives (C. Lubetzki, Paris) and imaging markers (B. Stankoff, Paris) of remyelination in multiple sclerosis and finally the drug safety in multiple sclerosis (G. Defer, Caen).
The last session, rehabilitation after spinal cord lesion, will deal with the treatment of neurogenic bladder and sexual dysfunction (P. Denys, Garches), pain (N. Attal, Boulogne) and impairment/dysfunction related to spinal cord injury (B. Perrouin-Verbe, Nantes). The congress will end with a conference on “Neurotechnology and restoration of walking in case of spinal cord injury” (H. Lorach, Lausanne) and a conference on “Control of an exoskeleton by an epidural brain-machine interface” (S. Chabardes, Grenoble).
We hope that you will find this program attractive and that many of you will attend the SFN International Days.
1. Scientific committee
D. Bensmail (Garches), S. Bracard (Nancy), P. Couratier (Limoges), A. Durr (Paris), G. Edan (Rennes), J. Honnorat (Lyon), P. Laforêt (Garches), J.-L. Mas (Paris), F. Parker (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre), G. Rodesch (Suresnes).
Disclosure of interest
The author declares that he has no competing interest.