29th Nov to 1st Dec 2019
Respected Sir / Madam
Dear colleague,
Greetings from the Society for Education and Research on Vertigo, Deafness and Tinnitus.
As in the previous 17 years, this year too we will be performing our annual ritual of updating (and also learning from) fellow clinicians especially ENT practitioners, neurologists and medical consultants on the three most vexing medical disorders namely Vertigo, Deafness and Tinnitus with special focus on Vertigo. The workshop is specifically for medical personnel only and limited to those who are especially involved in (but not necessarily confined to) the practice of neurotology. Those who would like to have a taste of the excellence of this fascinating subject or are contemplating giving this intriguing disciplines a shot, are also welcome. Balance is a very special faculty where different human senses (vision-touch-feel-hearing and of course the sense balance) combine with our cognitive and psychic systems. It involves different systems in the body viz. the central and peripheral nervous systems, the musculo-skeletal system, the visual system, the vestibular system, and also the cognitive and psychic systems. A defect in any one of them can make the subject off balance and induce a sense of instability and / or vertigo. The modern neurotologist has to have a grasp on all these very complex and diverse systems to do justice to the balance disorder patient. Balance disorder patients need to be assessed and treated not only for vestibular, visual and neurological deficits but also for psychic and cognitive impairments that are very often a crucial part of the morbidity. Neurotology is the specialty where all medical disciplines merge together. In this meeting, all of us i.e., the faculty and delegates will come together and try to transcend to a world where we can experience this confluence of senses and sciences. The ‘good times' has now come for doctors treating vertigo as well as for patients suffering from it, provided of course the patient has been able to hunt out the right clinician who has a special interest in and is updated in the advancements of contemporary neurotology. With the razor-sharp diagnostic accuracy offered by modern vestibulometry, treatment modalities have also undergone great refinement. Treatment, be it physical or medical is now targeted to the specific sense organ and the specific underlying disorder that is at fault. Today, neurotology is a complete evidence-based medical science and is no longer the occult science that it used to be a decade back. The modern clinician now does not require to conceal his inability to diagnose a lesion in the vestibular system by unethically prescribing the symptom relieving anti-vertigo drugs to camouflage the patient’s symptoms (and along with it his ignorance on the subject). The purpose of this workshop is to update doctors with the latest knowledge on the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and expose them to the nuances of ethical and logical neurotological practice.
Academic info of this year’s workshop:-
This year we are privileged to have as our invited foreign faculty five internationally renowned neurotologists from all over the world viz. Dr. Daniele Nuti from Italy, Dr. Kamran Barin from US, Dr. Michael Lacour from France, Dr. Francesco Dispenza from Italy and Dr. Alessandro Stefano from Italy all of whom have confirmed their participation. Dr Alessandro Stefano and Dr Fransesco Dispenza are the joint authors of the most popular book on BPPV. We are yet to get the list of lectures from Dr Michael Lacour and are expecting it shortly. The highlight of this year’s workshop will be the two master-classes on two very important aspects of neurotology detailed below. Locally we have speakers from the disciplines of psychiatry, neuro-ophthalmology and neurology in addition to some of us who specialize in neurotology. The workshop will be from 10-am to 6-pm on the first day and from 9-00am to 6-00pm on the two other days. We will have two master-classes (1) a 5-hour masterclass on VNG by Prof Kamran Barin and others and (2) a 7-hr master-class on BPPV by Drs. Daniele Nuti, Kamran Barin, Francesco Dispenza and Alessandro Stefano and others. In addition there will be sessions on the correct methodology and interpretation of the different investigative modalities like VHIT, VNG, SVV, ocular and cervical VEMP, DVA, Posturography, BERA, ECochG etc. We will also be having sessions on the different contemporary neurotological diseases like Functional Dizziness (that includes Persistent Perceptive Postural Dizziness. Phobic Postural Vertigo, Visual Vertigo, etc), Vestibular Migraine, Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, Psychiatric conditions presenting with balance problems, balance disorders of neurological origin like extra-pyramidal disorders, cerebellar disorders and the like and all other problematic medical conditions with which balance disorder patients can present to the doctor. There will also be a detailed session on drug therapy and the role and relevance of the anti-vertigo drugs and psychiatric drugs in the management of vertigo. A separate session on effective and organ-specific physical therapy for patients with different types of balance disorders will also be an important fixture in the workshop. More details will be put up in the workshop page of our website www.vertigoclinic.in very shortly. The workshop is limited to 100 delegates only on a first come first served basis; hence early confirmation is solicited.
Your esteemed participation and help in propagating the information about this non-surgical workshop to your colleagues and disciples would ensure the success of this humble and purely academic endeavor.
With regards to seniors and best wishes to colleagues
Dr. Anirban Biswas
Convener of the workshop on behalf of The Society for Education and research on Vertigo, Deafness and Tinnitus