EHF NL 2018 I

Dear colleagues,
Welcome to the 2018 first EHF Newsletter!
In this issue you can be updated on several following topics:
• EHF supported headache conference in Moscow
• EHF’s School of Advanced Studies (SAS)
• 12^th EHF Congress
• Upcoming events
I hope this issue of the Newsletter will be informative for you!
On behalf of the EHF board I wish you all a sunny and warm spring!

Sincerely
Mark Braschinsky, MD, PhD
Newsletter editor

International Conference “Headache treatment: a hundred years of discoveries and new horizons”

On March 16-17^th 2018 an International Conference “Headache treatment: a hundred years of discoveries and new horizons” was held in Moscow. It was the fourth annual conference for neurologists and other medical specialists organized by the “University Headache Clinic” (Moscow, Russian Federation) in conjunction with the European Headache Federation (EHF).

Kirill Skorobogatykh, neurologist, director of the University Headache Clinic: “We are glad that our conference was supported by EHF. It is very important for Russian neurologists and other medical specialists to be involved in the international practical and scientific medical environment. The great contribution to this integration was made by Vera Osipova, the scientific secretary of the Russian Headache Research Society and the longstanding representative of it in the EHF. “

Julia Azimova, neurologist, co-founder of the conference: “We timed the conference to an important anniversary: in 2018, the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the first specific anti-migraine substance, ergotamine, was celebrated. It’s pleasure to see that the number of participants growth every year. This year more than 400 neurologists, anaesthesiologists, therapists, dentists from 40 cities of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan participated in the conference. “

The EHF was represented by four speakers: the president of the federation Paolo Martelletti (University of La Sapienza, Rome), Mark Braschinsky (University of Tartu, Estonia), Christian Lampl (second vice president of the EHF, director of the Headache Center in Linz, Austria), Christina Tassorelli (co-founder of the European Headache Alliance, director of the Scientific Center for Headache at the National Neurological Institute in Pavia, Italy).

In two days, 24 experts lectured at the conference. The majority of speakers were practicing Russian neurologists, who specialize in treating headaches and are also involved in scientific work. Comorbidity of migraine was discussed by specialists who are also involved in headache management – clinical psychologist, somnologist, anesthesiologist, epileptologist.

The topics of the presentations were new approaches for the treatment of migraine - new class of drugs expected on the market; management of patients with refractory migraine, patients with comorbid psychiatric and sleep disorders. Experts’ talks were also about the differential diagnosis of migraine and epilepsy, myofascial pain syndrome, and headaches at the ICU department.

Experts from Russian headache centers shared their experience in treatment of different disorders: trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgias, menstrual migraine, facial pain, cognitive impairment and migraine.

The average score for the content and organization of the conference, reported by the participants was 4.71 out of 5. Suggestions for future meetings were left by the conference guests:

“More clinical analysis, master classes. It would be wonderful to hold a headache school in Moscow.”
“Thank you for organizing such an event. Everything was clear, accessible, interesting. Especially the latest news and recommendations. It’s great to have master classes with patients.”
“I would like to see the clinical analysis of difficult patients by foreign and Russian experts, learn about new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of headaches. Considering rare types of headaches in differential diagnosis.”

3^rd EHF’s School of Advanced Studies Meeting

As a continuum of headache related all-European educational program 3rd EHF-SAS Meeting was held in Rome on April 13-15^th 2018. The Meeting, unconditionally supported by Novartis, was aimed towards physicians needing to improve their clinical expertise in headache and migraine.
Presentations were delivered by European acknowledged headache specialists from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, The Netherlands and United Kingdom. This 3-day full-immersion Meeting was completed by Clinical Grand Round, where the frontal lessons were enriched with real clinical interviews with migraine patients. This time participants from Italy, Russian Federation, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands and Iran had an opportunity to improve their headache knowledge and directly communicate with European opinion leaders.

The course’s participants rated highly the content and the quality of the event. Inspired by the excellent feedback from this and previous events’ participants, the EFH-SAS is about to continue.

Please, find all necessary information at the EHF’s website: https://ehf-org.org/

Abstract submission for the EHF 2018 Congress is now open!

After the record-braking 11^th EHF Rome Congress with nearly 1000 attendees from thirty nine countries, the next – the 12^th EHF 2018 Congress – will be held in Florence, Italy on September 28-30^th 2018 under the slogan “The Future of Headache in Florence”.

Committed to the European Headache Federation mission of Science and Education through Renovation, the program will include:

• The historical EHF lecture and the lecture assigned in rotation to one of the 38 federate EHF Societies will open the Congress.

• Clinical lectures on addiction and medication overuse headache, cluster and post-traumatic headache, structural brain changes, cephalic and non-cephalic pains in adolescents vs adults, role of gender, association with neurovascular risk factors and spontaneous intracranial hypotension, clinical and scientific understanding of the comorbidity between migraine and epilepsy, the pathophysiology of occipital headaches, and what can be learned from the inconsistency of migraine triggers.

• Treatment-focused lectures on CGRP monoclonal antibodies and antagonists, endocannabinoid and marijuana, OnabotulinumtoxinA, neuromodulation, novel targets beyond CGRP, guideline for implementing individualized headache management medicine, expectation role in treatment, headache management if the elderly and management of secondary headache disorders, and how all currently available and novel migraine drugs may be placed in the market of headache.

• Scientific lectures on role of inflammation, the hypothalamus, the brainstem, the blood brain barrier, genetics, environment, aura/CSD, and CGRP (to name some) in migraine, and in-depth discussion on reliability and predictability of novel animal models of migraine and other headaches.

For the full program, venue and registration information please visit the official homepage of the Congress: www.ehf2018.com

Abstract submission is now open with the deadline of June 15^th 2018 and the late-breaking abstract submission deadline of July 1^st 2018. Please, visit the abstract submission website with all related information at https://ehf2018.com/abstract-submission/

All accepted submissions will be published in an indexed Supplement of The Journal of Headache and Pain, ready for the Congress date.

Upcoming events

Here is a list of EHF’s major future events:

• The 12^th EHF Congress will be held in Florence, 28-30 September 2018. Continuous updates can be found at the website https://ehf2018.com and on Twitter @EHF_Official

• EHF-SAS 4^th meeting will be held on June 22-24^th 2018 in Rome, Italy

• EHF-SAS 5^th meeting will be held on August 31^th – September 2^nd 2018 in Rome, Italy

• EHF-SAS 6^th meeting will be held on October 4-6^th 2018 in Tehran, Iran.

Additional information soon on the EHF’s website and on Twitter @EHF_Official

• Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – EHF Headache Conference, a joint event that will take place in Cairo, Egypt on October 18^th-21^st 2018

• The 13^th EHF Congress will be held in Athens, Greece on May 29^th – June 1^st 2019

Follow us on Twitter @EHF_Official

See you in Florence!