It marked the first time the AANS took its Annual Meeting to Minneapolis, but more than 5,000 neurosurgeons, residents, clinical specialists, neuroscience nurses, nurse/physician assistants and other allied health professionals, as well as exhibitors and guests, flocked to the Midwestern city for the Association’s 1996 Annual Meeting.
The Scientific Program Committee, under the direction of Robert A. Ratcheson, MD, assembled an outstanding program that included 8 symposia, 131 research papers, 548 poster exhibits, 25 hands-on clinics, and 84 educational seminars. In addition, 495 technical and institutional exhibits showcased the latest neurosurgical instrumentation and equipment. The program emphasized new technology applications in the field of neurological surgery. Highlighting the meeting was the premier of the new Internet site NEUROSURGERY://ON-CALL®. On Monday, April 29, Patrick J. Kelly, MD, Ransohoff Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at New York University Medical Center, delivered the 1996 Richard C. Schneider Lecture. His topic was “The Computer as the Engine of Hyperchange in Neurosurgical Technology.” Dr. Kelly’s remarks covered the development of computer-assisted surgical technology and assessed the impact of networked high-speed systems on neurosurgical practice, scientific databases, and patient care.
Sidney Tolchin, MD, the 63rd President of the AANS, delivered his Presidential Address following the Schneider Lecture. In his remarks, Dr. Tolchin focused on worth, “. . . how we value ourselves as neurosurgeons and individuals, and how we can measure that value.” He stated that, “When we become ‘vendors’ or ‘deliverers’ of health care and purveyors of the industrialization of medicine we demean and dehumanize our patients and ourselves and miniaturize our worth.
“When patients become ‘lives’ to be traded like pork bellies, the worth of these patients become compromised. How we respond to this danger in the evaluation of our risks of survival weighed against the benefits to society will determine not only our own worth as neurosurgeons, but the future of our society.”
Dr. Tolchin issued a call for his colleagues to say no to the abuses of managed care. “We are the most highly competitive group in history. We must temper that competition and sustain the least of us to maintain the humanity that separates us from competitive shareholders, lawyers, and producers of widgets. We must entertain a new paradigm, the ability to say, ‘No, this is not right,’ and fulfill the social contract to protect the lives and functions of our patients and our colleagues. We must not rush to sign contracts designed to denigrate our worth to patients to get a small piece of the available pie before our colleague does. There has to be another way.”
The full text of Dr. Tolchin’s address will be reprinted in a future issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery. In the meantime, his remarks, as well as the complete Schneider Lecture, are available on audiotape. To order, write InfoMedix at 12800 Garden Grove Blvd., Suite F, Garden Grove, CA 92643, or call (800) 367-9286.
The Annual Business Meeting was held later that day, where Secretary Martin Weiss, MD, reported on the Association’s activities for the year past, and Treasurer Stewart Dunsker provided an update on AANS finances. In addition, J. Charles Rich, MD, was installed as the 64th President of the AANS.
On Tuesday, April 30, author, columnist, and television personality William F. Buckley, Jr., gave the Cushing Oration, speaking on the topic “Reflections on the Current Contentious.” The Tuesday program also featured a special lecture on the “Emergency Management of Stroke,” given by Thomas Brott, MD, the principal designer of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Concluding the day’s program was a special Decade of the Brain Symposium, which took an in-depth look at the latest developments in mapping the brain and, through the use of high technology tools, watching it work.
On Wednesday, Dennis D.M. O’Leary, MD, the 1996 Decade of the Brain Medal ist, offered his insights on the mechanisms which direct the correct anatomical and functional organization of the cerebral cortex of the brain. In his lecture, entitled “Developmental Mechanisms Regulating the Differentiation of the Mammalian Neocortex,” he described his findings regarding aberrant development, neurodegenerative disease, and the consequences of injury.
The concluding event of the day was a special technology session, “Virtual Reality Meets Neurosurgery: The Impact of Advanced Three-Dimensional Imaging and Robotics in the Future Practice of Neurosurgery.” It included presentations on three -dimensional imaging and robotics, remote telepresence surgery, a virtual working environment, and 3-D ultrasound imaging.
Scientific sessions presented by the various Joint Sections of the AANS and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, were offered throughout the day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Research papers covered such topics as persistent pain after spinal surgery, pallidotomy for Parkinson’s disease, the latest treatment for central nervous system tumors, and gene therapy.
A new aspect of the Scientific Program was a session entitled “Contemporary Neurosurgery.” This panel presentation highlighted the important and developing facets of modern neurosurgery. Topics included the resurgence of neurosurgical treatment for movement disorders, the computer literate neurosurgeon, gene therapy, and strategies for how neurosurgeons can recapture the carotid market.
In addition to the scientific programming, two members were honored for their contributions to neurosurgery and the AANS during the meeting:
- Shelley Nien-Chun Chou, MD, PhD, received the Association’s highest honor — the Cushing Medal. Dr. Chou, Professor Emeritus of Neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School, was recognized for his very distinguished career and many years of outstanding leadership and dedication to the field of neurological surgery.
- Robert E. Florin, MD, received the 1996 Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Florin was honored for his decades of dedicated service to the AANS. In particular, he has performed an especially valuable service to Association members through his participation in the American Medical Association’s five-year review of Medicare’s Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS). As the AANS Member of the Committee performing the review, his personal efforts played a crucial role in producing the recommendations that were submitted to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).
In a special presentation, two non-neurosurgeons were recognized for their extraordinary efforts to prevent head injry and to advance the cause of brain research:
- Ralph and Ala Isham were presented with a Distinguished Service Award. Mr. and Mrs. Isham have been instrumental in the development and continuing success of two organizations dedicated to head injury prevention and brain re searchthe Brain Trauma Foundation and the Aitken Neuroscience Institute. They have also played important leadership roles in the THINK FIRST Foundation and the Research Foundation of the AANS.
The meeting also featured three award-winning research papers:
- Preuss Resident Award: “Antisense Oligonucleotides in Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Receptor (IGF-1R) Mediate a Systematic Defense Against C6 Rat Glioma Tumors”– Margaret A. Wallendriedman, MD, John Conrad, MD, Ian Chian, MD, Eric P. Flores, MD, Dennis Wen, MD, Walter A. Hall, MD, Walter C. Low, MD
- Mahaley Clinical Research Award: “High Levels of Speech Recognition with Multi-Channel Electrical Stimulation of the Human Auditory Brainstem” — William E. Hitselberger, MD, Derals E. Brackmann, MD, Steven Otto , Robert V. Shannon, MD.
- William H. Sweet Young Investigator Award in Pain Medicine: “Expression of Neurotrophin Receptors in Medulloblastoma and the Developing Cerebellum” — Lilliana C. Goumnerova, MD, Scott L. Pomeroy, MD, Lyuda Goritchienko, MD, Rosalind A. Segal, MD
In addition, Howard L. Weiner, MD, was named the 1996 Van Wagenen Fellow. Dr. Weiner’s research interests have centered on the role of growth factor-mediated signaling pathways in brain tumor oncogenesis. He will use the fellowship to study in the laboratory of Professor Nicole LeDouarin, Director of the Institut d’Embryologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire des CNRS et du College de France, investigating the molecular biology of normal brain development.