AANS Commitment to Education Evidenced at 76th Event – Plan Now for San Diego Next May

A total of 236 companies offered attendees the opportunity to sample new technology in the exhibit hall

The 76th AANS Annual Meeting in Chicago April 26—May 1 was a resounding success. Attracting 3,488 medical attendees and 7,993 total attendees, not only did the meeting nearly shatter the AANS attendance record set at last year’s diamond jubilee meeting, it also generated record-breaking media coverage.

More importantly, the meeting delivered top-notch neurosurgical education through 41 practical clinics, 78 breakfast seminars and 149 oral presentations. Depending on the extent of their participation, attendees could receive up to 46.75 continuing medical education credits.

The 11 scientific abstracts that the Public Relations Committee selected for release to media generated exceptional interest among national and international media outlets. Total media coverage exceeded all expectations, with a record-breaking 1.95 billion total media impressions — more than twice last year’s coverage. There was pick-up not only in major U.S. print and Web publications such as The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, MSN, and Yahoo, but also worldwide. Newspapers and Web outlets as far afield as Zambia, Pakistan, China, Iran, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom covered the research.

The media conducted several on-site interviews with neurosurgeons, and three interviews conducted by ORLive are viewable in the Current News area of www.aans.org. There was particular media interest in the report on deep brain stimulation for depression; regarding this topic, Ali Rezai, MD, and Donald Malone, MD, participated in several interviews, and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, reported on their research in a May 2 broadcast.

Meeting Highlights
A Chicago-style reception at the historic Navy Pier ballroom was a fitting launch for the meeting, offering a convivial atmosphere and spectacular views of the Chicago skyline. Setting a celebratory tone were the hardest working neurosurgeons at the reception, the members of the back-by-popular-demand Neurosurgical Jazz Quintet: Donald Quest, James Rose, Theodore Schwartz, Michael Scott, and Philip Weinstein.

Jon H. Robertson, MD, tackles the neurosurgery-industry relationship in his presidential address

In this year’s presidential address, Jon H. Robertson, MD, discussed a particularly timely topic: the neurosurgery-industry relationship and the attendant potential conflicts of interest that must be avoided. Dr. Robertson approached the topic on two levels, that of the professional society and industry, and that of the individual neurosurgeon and industry. “By necessity, the relationship between our profession and industry must be appropriate and collaborative to benefit our patients,” he said.

An AANS member in the audience later suggested posting the address online so that all members could experience it, and Dr. Robertson’sremarks in their entirety now are freely accessible via hyperlinks at www.aans.org/annual/2008_Annual_post_meeting.asp.

Delivering the Cushing oration, historian Douglas Brinkley,PhD, explored the makeup of a “sustainable hero” primarily through three figures, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Rosa Parks. Beyond individual accomplishments — establishing national parks as the true American heirlooms, facilitating the end of the cold war, and symbolizing and advancing the civil rights movement, respectively — he observed that, ironically, it is a lack of detail which allows a figure to be mythologized. He warned that in an information age run amok, heroes will be increasingly hard to sustain.

With a contemporary portrait of Arrowsmith, the hero of Sinclair Lewis’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, A. John Popp, MD, led off the meeting and a wealth of thought-provoking lectures with the Richard C. Schneider lecture. Contemporary Arrowsmith wound up as disillusioned as his forebear, and Dr. Popp considered whether neurosurgical education is fully preparing trainees for all aspects of a career in neurosurgery; he called for examination of what may be a stagnant model for neurosurgical education. “Discussion is a healthy business,” he observed.

Don Quest (left) and Jim Rose of the Neurosurgical Jazz Quintet take a break during the opening reception at Navy Pier.

The family’s point of view was the focus of Lee Woodruff’s Rhoton Family lecture. She recounted the extensive head injuries suffered in Iraq by her husband, journalist Bob Woodruff, from an improvised explosive device. “I wish there was a way for [doctors] to talk to families in language they can understand,” she said. “These are moments that as human beings [families] need a little coddling, and they need hope.”

In the Louise Eisenhardt lecture, Marcia Angell, MD, compellingly explored what she termed a “retreat from science” in the U.S. since the 1950s, discussing in detail why such a rejection became possible. She noted that there are enormous implications for society when people believe whatever they want at the expense of evidence. “The scientific method evolved over decades because it is the only method that worked,” she said.

In “Alchemy of Ideas,” Michael L.J. Apuzzo, MD, delivered the Theodore Kurze lecture “in the spirit of Ted,” whom he recalled as an “engaging and eclectic person.” Painting with a broad brush, Dr. Apuzzo invoked modern artists, architects and authors whose work fostered a “feeling of the inevitability of social progress.” After richly illustrating the transformative power of an idea, he proclaimed that currently “the quest for modernity is beyond anything we’ve ever had in our field.”

These and additional lectures as well as the plenary sessions in their entirety, the scientific sessions, and section sessions of the 2008 AANS Annual Meeting were recorded and can be purchased for online access or on CD-ROM. Each recorded session contains digital audio fully synchronized to the session slide presentation as submitted by the presenters. The complete series offers more than 50 hours of educational content, and 10 continuing medical education credits are available.

Plan Now to Attend the 77th AANS AnnualMeeting
The 2009 AANS Annual Meeting will be held May 2-7, in San Diego, Calif. The abstract center, open now, closes Sept. 19. Registration and housing information will be available at www.aans.org in the fall.

Related Information

• AANS Governance
  
• 2008 Annual Meeting Photographs
  
• AANS/CNS Position Statement: Guidelines on Neurosurgeon-Industry Conflict of Interest
  
• Presidential Address
  
• 2008 Annual Meeting Press Kit
  
• 2008 Annual Meeting Recorded Sessions With CME

Outstanding Individuals Honored at 2008 Annual Meeting Cushing Medal Charles B. Wilson, MD Upon receiving the Cushing Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the AANS, Dr. Wilson spoke of neurosurgery as his “profession, passion and inspiration.” He expressed his immense gratitude for the award, and credited being in the “right place, at the right time and being surrounded by people with a passion for excellence” as inspiration for his achievements. Distinguished Service Award Peter Carmel, MD Dr. Carmel was honored in part for the two decades of outstanding representation of neurosurgery to the American Medical Association. He expressed his gratitude at having been afforded the opportunity to serve, saying, “We are blessed to be able to serve first and foremost our patients… and our profession,” and he hailed the next generation of neurosurgeons as the “most brilliant ever.” Humanitarian Award Robert J. Dempsey Presenting Dr. Dempsey with the Humanitarian Award, AANS President Jon H. Robertson, MD, noted that his work has been “a shining example of extensive humanitarian efforts,” particularly in Ecuador. Dr. Dempsey acknowledged the vital role played by the Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery in developing countries, and said, “I am very grateful and deeply humbled” by this award. Humanitarian AwardInternational Lifetime Award Humberto Mateos Gomez, MD Dr. Mateos is the first recipient of the AANS International Lifetime Recognition Award. He has dedicated his life to teaching and has been a principal force in elevating the quality of neurosurgical training in Mexico. He founded the Neurosurgery Service of the Mexican Institute of Social Security in 1963 and also was a founding member and president of the Mexican Board of Neurosurgery. The award was presented at the International Reception.

Scientific Posters Enter Digital Age A new format for scientific posters debuted at the 2008 AANS Annual Meeting: The posters were presented in electronic format rather than displayed in the traditional gallery format. More than 400 “e-posters” could be viewed at computer stations located in the exhibit hall and in other readily accessible areas of the convention center. The digitized format allows the posters to be searched and viewed even after the meeting at https://posters.webges.com/e-Poster.php?aans2008. For viewing scientific posters, physicians may self-claim Category 2 Credit from the American Medical Association using an AMA PRA certificate application form. Top honors were announced at the meeting for the following posters. Cerebrovascular—1054, The Influence of the Comorbidity on the Postoperative Course of Disease in Patients With Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus General Interest—1412, How Much Is Enough? Virtual Reality Analysis for the Surgical Planning of Skull Base Approaches History—1438, Friedrich Nietzsche: Syphilitic Madness or a Meningioma? Neurotrauma and Critical Care—1121, Transplantation of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Improves Cognitive Dysfunction in Rat Diffuse Brain Injury Model Pain—1096, Qualitative RI Cisternography and Brain MRI in Patients With Chronic Headache or Neck Pain Pediatric—1297, Long-Term Outcomes After Surgery Only, in Children With Low-Grade Brain Tumors Spine and Peripheral Nerves—1097, Adjacent Vertebral Body Osteolysis with Bone Morphogenetic Protein Use in Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion< Stereotactic and Functional—1084, Autopsy Findings in a Patient Receiving Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventral Capsule/Ventral Striatum Tumor—1145, MGMT Gene Silencing Using RNA Interference Renders Glioblastoma Cells More Sensitive to Temozolomide

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