by Didier Leys
The “Société Française de Neurologie” (SFN) held its winter meeting in La Salpêtrière, Paris, on January 15th and 16th, 2015. For the first time the board of the SFN decided to invite another National Society of Neurology, and the choice made by the president was the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurologie” (DGN).
The presidents of both societies (Didier Leys, SFN and Martin Grond, DGN) met in May 2014 and agreed to have a full day meeting on January 16th and to focus on 3 topics (stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease). They also agreed to invite the future President of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) who was not yet elected when they met. Günther Deuschl, member and past president of the DGN, was elected in June and accepted the invitation.
Eight speakers from the DGN came and gave excellent talks (Götz Thomalla, Stefan Schwab, Sven Meuth, Günther Deuschl, Hagen Huttner, Günter Höglinger, Martin Grond and Wolfgang Oertel). The only talk in French was given by Martin Grond in his welcome address. Günther Deuschl presented the EAN and explained the attendees why it is so important to be actively involved in this new society, which is the only society of neurology in Europe dealing with all the domains of neurology. The members of the SFN presented 12 oral communications and one invited lecture by Denis Vivien, together with 2 oral communications by residents selected by the college of Professors of Neurology.
The meeting was very successful and an excellent opportunity to re-inforce links between the two societies and between individuals. Stefan Schwab, president of the DGN congress in 2016, announced that members of the SFN will be invited at the annual meeting of the DGN to be held in Mannheim in September 2016. The board of the SFN decided to continue, and the future President, Jean-Yves Delattre just contacted the Spanish society of Neurology to be the guest of the SFN in 2016.
Didier Leys is President of the French Neurological Society and Professor of Neurology and Head of the Neurological Department at the Lille University Hospital, France
