ESO Focused Workshop 2023 – unruptured intracranial aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage

The friendly atmosphere, informative lectures, distinguished professors, interactive participants, interesting discussions about the field – this was ESO focused workshop 2023, which was held in Utrecht, in the Netherlands from 22 to 24 October. It was an unforgettable experience for every participant. The audience was a mix of neurologists, neurosurgeons and interventional radiologists. For this Workshop, participants from 34 different European countries gathered in the halls of the 16th-century Leeuwenbergh building, in the heart of Utrecht city.

The first day started with a social program with drinks at the Crown Plaza event hall. At this event, we had a chance to meet each other and spend the evening with glasses of wine. On the second day, we went to the historical building Leeuwenbergh (once a plague house), where we were greeted by a very peaceful and friendly atmosphere. The morning was initiated by Professor Gabriel Rinkel, the chair of the local workshop committee of ESO. Afterwards, neurologist Mervyn Vergouwen had a lecture about clinical symptoms, signs, and diagnostic methods of acute subarachnoid hemorrhage. The second speaker was Liselore Mensing who talked about “Perimesencephalic haemorrhage.” Isabel Hostetler and Ynte Ruigrok gave talks about other causes of subarachnoid haemorrhage and its screening of unruptured intracranial aneurysms, respectively. The Q&A sessions were after every presentation were very lively and created an interactive discussion between the audience and the speakers.

At the second session of program, Mervyn Vergouwen talked about “Prevention and management of rebleeding.” Professor Gabriël Rinkel talked about “Prevention and management of delayed cerebral ischemia.” His extensive experience in the treatment of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage was very inspiring. Afterwards, our colleague neurosurgeon from Germany Fabian Wenz talked on “Diagnosis and treatment of hydrocephalus” in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The program continued after lunch by Walter van den Bergh, who talked about ICU management for patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage. Next presenters were Nima Etminan and Gabriël Rinkel. Their topics were very interesting as they spoke about “Treatment modalities for occlusion and prediction of complications” and “Risk factors for rupture and their application in prediction models”. At the end of the day, we had a boat tour on the canals of Utrecht city and visited a brewery of local beers. The day ended with dinner in Stadskasteel Oudaen.

On the third day of the workshop, we continued talking about aneurysms, their early diagnostic methods, prediction models, and treatment strategies. Katharina Hackenberg opened the morning session by talking about “Insight into the wall of aneurysms.” Jeroen Bogaarts followed with a presentation about “New treatment modalities for aneurysm occlusion”. The first session of day was ended by Mark Bakker and

Irene van der Schaaf. They discussed “Genetics in intracranial aneurysms and rupture” and “Novel radiological markers to predict development and growth”.

Finally, presenters Nina Hilkens, Nima Etminan and Elly Hol presented on various interesting and diverse topics.

In conclusion, every participant surely learned a lot about the subarachnoid hemorrhage, diagnosing ruptured and unruptured aneurysms and newest treatment methods. We spent amazing days in Utrecht, in this wonderful historical Dutch city.

It was a highly successful focused workshop with a well-organized program which will be definitely unforgettable for all of us.

Thank you to every organisation committee members, professors and participants who made these days an absolute success!