Echoes Issue No. 34 [ December 2023 ]
Welcome to Issue 34 of ECHOES
As we come to the end of yet another year we can reflect on what has been an exciting time for WFUMB. In November the Oman Society of Ultrasound in Medicine hosted a very successful WFUMB 2023 World Congress in Muscat which brought together over a thousand ultrasound enthusiasts from 89 countries. Our committees have been very active with the production of multiple publications and the updating of guidelines. Further expanding our reach, WFUMB has signed multiple memorandums of understanding with other ultrasound groups which will assist in providing much needed education in regions of need.
In this final issue for 2023 we highlight the Muscat meeting as well as federation reports from ASUM, EFSUMB, MASU & FLAUS, information on our newest COE in Beijing, China, a call for Outreach Volunteers and a luminary interview with Gebhard Mathis.
We hope that 2024 brings stability to those regions of the world in conflict and that the ultrasound community can continue to work together in harmony.
WFUMB ECHOES - Spread the word
Sue Westerway, Publications Committee
Over 1000
PARTICIPANTS
We are delighted to share with you some highlights from our recent World Congress which was held in Muscat, Oman on 4-7 November 2023. WFUMB are extremely grateful for the sponsors, participants, speakers and the on-site organizational team who all contributed to this wonderful event.
From 89
COUNTRIES
-
- Joint winner of Young Investigator Clinical Award – Adam Morrell UK
-
- Minister of Health with Dr Saqar Altai before the Opening Ceremony
-
- Joint winner of Young Investigator prize for best technical paper Hyunwoo Cho, AFSUMB
-
- Prof Ping Liang receiving the certificate of WFUMB’s first Centre of Education in Beijing, China. Courses are already planned for 2024.
-
- Signing MoU with CSUM at Muscat, Oman
A Meeting of Hearts and Minds
I recently had the unique opportunity to attend the WFUMB Ultrasound Congress in Oman. Serendipitously, the inaugural World Congress of Rheumatic Heart Disease was held in the days immediately before WFUMB in Abu Dhabi. Rheumatic heart disease is a cause close to my heart and I was lucky enough to be invited to talk about some of my research in the area. My background and research interests are in cardiology and echocardiography, so I was pleased to learn that Muscat, the host city for the WFUMB congress, is also the location of the Omani National Heart Hospital.
WFUMB arranged a visit for me. It was truly a highlight to spend the morning touring the hospital with my host, Dr Kamla Al Wahaibi, and presenting a talk to the cardiology department about the new rheumatic heart disease guidelines (released at the congress) and update them on current, and my own, research in the area. It was an insightful morning that ended with a personal tour of the grand Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.
When one visits a country that is so culturally different to your own, it's comforting that before long you are discussing the challenges of clinical care that are universal. Managing waiting lists, late presentations, inequitable care across rural and remote areas, to name a few. But I think, in these deep conversations, you realise you have much in common and identify areas you might like to pursue as future collaborative research.
![Echoes Issue No. 34 [ December 2023 ]](https://wfumb.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG-20231106-WA0026-scaled.jpg)
![Echoes Issue No. 34 [ December 2023 ]](https://wfumb.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_1880-scaled.jpg)
One of the things I never underestimate, when I travel to a conference, is the ability to network and connect with colleagues of similar mindset with aligned views for health care improvement and future research. I would like to thank WFUMB for creating this unique opportunity.
Gillian Whalley
IFMSA
As IFMSA Delegation, we had the opportunity to lead a session during the Ultrasound World Conference on Ultrasound Student Education together with Prof. Christoph F Dietrich. This is a very interesting opportunity and approach to meaningfully include medical students and youth people within world federations and in the medical atmosphere at a global level.
Before the Meeting:
- 3 preparatory sessions with the delegation to discuss the advocacy strategy and the plan for the meeting.
- Preparations for the individual presentations
During the Meeting:
- Attend one of the workshops of the pre conference day on perinatal ultrasound techniques.
- Attend the 3 days conference session. The programme was divided in groups of sessions or workshops in different focus areas such as obstetrics and gynecology, critical care and emergency ultrasound, abdominal, MSK, pediatrics. Overall, the session was very insightful of the new techniques and having the opportunity as medical students to learn from ultrasound world experts was a privilege from us. Here are some highlights of the delegation:
- Overall, a very positive first day of the Congress with many exciting presentations and discussions centered around the latest advancements in ultrasound and related diagnostics. A highlight for me was being included with senior expert discussions regarding the evolving epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Furthermore, the Faculty Dinner which we were invited for provided a platform for networking with experts in the field of radiology.
- The first-in-woman study on therapeutic ultrasound to treat Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) showcased groundbreaking advancements in prenatal care, offering new hope for improving outcomes in twin pregnancies and raising the potential for life-saving interventions, followed by a beautiful photo session.
- Beyond our presentations earlier in the day, which were among the important events, the gala provided a fantastic chance to network. It was a delightful moment where we exchanged experiences and learned from field experts. I had the honor of engaging in a fascinating conversation in arabic with Dr. Saqar Altai, president of the Oman Society of Ultrasound in Medicine. Later on, I had the pleasure of ending the evening by chatting with Dr. Felipe Carneiro from Brazil. His valuable advice on research in radiology, especially in orthopedic and penile doppler ultrasound, was incredibly inspiring.
- One of the highlights of the conference was the session on Student Ultrasound Education. Giving the opportunity to medical students to share their experiences with ultrasound within medical school and their countries was an empowering opportunity for us and also for the attendees.
- Here you can find the different presentations of the delegates to have a look of their experience in Gambia, South Africa, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belgium and you can also find the IFMSA Presentation.
- We had the Opportunity to meet several members from WFUMB, including the treasurer, Lynne Rudd, to network with the regional offices, where we discussed the way forward of the collaboration between WFUMB and IFMSA.
- As IFMSA LSR, I met with several members of the education committee, to discuss and brainstorm about what new materials or ideas for the webinars for medical students, the collaboration for the next Conferences.
- A Student Working Group to work with WFUMB on Ultrasound Education will be carried out, so medical students that are interested in the field of ultrasound can develop their competencies and help WFUMB in the creation of resources, giving input, etc.
Each experience in external affairs and in the IFMSA is different, but I can say that WFUMB 2023, Ultrasound world conference was one of my best experiences as LSR so far. The delegation bounded from moment one and that made everything really easy for me for the preparations and we had a very nice time together.
WFUMB and OSUM hosted us in the best way we could have ever asked for.
Even though Ultrasound is not a subject in most of the medical schools and that there are several controversies in the Students Ultrasound Education, WFUMB is working very hard to develop the competencies that medical students should have.
I am very thankful for this opportunity, I learned a lot during the conference for my professional career and I am also very thankful to enforce the relation with WFUMB and to put new projects on the table.
Thank you very much for this opportunity and let's continue working together!
The full report from IFMSA can be viewed here >
Lucía Pérez Gómez
IFMSA LSR - Head of Delegation
WFUMB Open Access - 2023 Progress
To date there are 20 published articles and 50 accepted. The Editor in Chief, Manjiri Dighe is hoping to increase the number of associate editors to cover the PoCUS and AI submissions. There will be a special issue in early 2024 on Fat Liver Quantification edited by Richard Barr and Giovanna Ferraioli (to coincide with the WFUMB guidelines publication on Liver Elasotgraphy ). Authors will be invited for a special issue on Ultrasound drug-based delivery later in the year.
As the editor in chief of WFUMB Open access journal, I wanted to highlight this paper published recently in the journal titled “Effectiveness of color Doppler ultrasound and shear-wave elastography for characterization of intestinal inflammation and fibrosis in Crohn’s disease: A comparison with surgical histopathology analysis” by Ripoll ́es T, et al. In this article, the authors evaluated the accuracy of color Doppler US and Shear Wave Elastography in differentiating the degree of inflammation or fibrosis in ileal strictures in patients with Crohn’s disease by comparing with resected bowel samples. They performed ultrasound and SWE in 30 patients slated to undergo bowel resection. Ultrasound variables, Shear Wave Elastography quantitative analysis and visual elastographic color map, were prospectively evaluated in this study. Histopathology grading of acute inflammation using the acute inflammatory score and the degree of fibrostenosis was then performed. The authors found that mean Shear Wave Elastography value of the stenotic bowel wall was significantly higher in severe fibrosis than in mild fibrosis and by using 2.5 m/s as the cut-off value to discriminate between mild and severe fibrosis they could achieve sensitivity and specificity of 76.2% and 100%. You can read the article here >
As the editor in chief of WFUMB Open access journal, I wanted to highlight this paper published recently in the journal titled “Pitfalls in sonographic evaluation of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS)” by Kennedy A, et al. This article reviews and illustrates the sonographic signs that are most helpful in detection of PAS and provides tips on avoiding pitfalls in diagnosis. They break these factors into patient history, ultrasound physics and transducer selection and scan technique. They then discuss the normal anatomy of the placenta, pathophysiology of the disease process and the published signs of PAS and bias in the literature. The images and cases shown by the authors are superb and the article overall has a very high educational value. You can read the article here >
Article publishing charge for open access - Free* (standard fee: $1750)
*This discount is valid for all authors who wish to publish open access and submit their article by 31 July 2024
Submit your peer-reviewed, high-quality research investigations dealing with ultrasound and its applications in biomedicine. Original Contributions must contain a structured abstract and the text of the manuscript (not including abstract, tables or references) should be less than 3500 words.
WFUMB Outreach, Volunteer to Teach
Do you want to contribute to WFUMB’s mission of providing medical ultrasound education to countries where there is need?
We are looking for volunteers to help teach Ultrasound at our Centres of Education (CoE’s)
WFUMB Center of Education (CoE) is the name for an institution, which offers education in ultrasound for doctors and medical personnel at least once a year. It is established on the recommendation of the ultrasound Society of its country or region and recognized by WFUMB. A dedicated and responsible person is appointed as Director and is in charge of the CoE.
According to WHO approximately 2/3 of the world’s population has no access to medical imaging of any kind.
Through our Centers of Education WFUMB supports ultrasound education in low resource areas at 19 locations around the globe. We aim to build a network of tutors to support these CoE’s and enable them to offer regular ultrasound courses. By recruiting new teaching talent we can share ideas on how to teach ultrasound and new ways to bring ultrasound to the farthest areas of the globe.
View the application process and complete the form to show your interest here >
AFSUMB Student Webinars
The WFUMB-AFSUMB Student Webinars take place across 2023 – 2024 on the second Saturday of the scheduled months. Each webinar consists of two, 1 hour lectures (see the full enlarged scheduled below) and will take place via Zoom connection in English language.
Time: 10:00am Central European Time (CET or CEST)
Register by clicking on the schedule below or view the presentations from the last two webinars ...
WFUMB Ultrasound Book 2nd Edition
Following on from the huge success of the online WFUMB Ultrasound Book, we are delighted to have begun preparation on the second edition. This project will ask our authors to produce an updated chapter with new online zoom facilities for images and scans, incorporated video content and an extensive internal search engine, but with one main difference.
We are producing this project for USB Flash drive production to enable us to send this to the far reaches of the world. This will enable anyone with a computer or USB enabled TV to view the chapters digitally with no internet connection required - providing essential learning resources in less developed areas.
ASUM Report
Strategic plan implementation
- Trainee membership package launched (May 2023) to provide a pathway for medical trainees to access the CCPU and/or DDU in parallel to their specialist training to attract younger members.
- Implementation of a new Student Management System in progress
- Member Value Proposition updated based on member journey.
- Revenue diversification remains a priority.
Matters for noting
AGM held 14 Oct 2023
- New director, Dr Nathan Peters, has joined the ASUM Board.
- Dr Emmeline Lee joined the Board in June 2023 taking on the casual position vacated.
Delwyn Nicholls Scholarship
- Rural or remote sonographer student
- Inaugural scholarship awarded during the ASM2023 Gala Dinner.
Diploma of Medical Ultrasound (DMU) now closed.
- Sonographer credential no longer available via ASUM due to regulatory changes
- Final students completed their studies September 2023.
Research Grant
- ASUM continues to invest in ultrasound research and will shortly assess the phase 2 of this year’s research grants applications
https://www.asum.com.au/research-grants/
Conference
- ASUM New Zealand conference 2023 was held in Christchurch in 21-23 July 2023
- ASUM2023 conference was held in Sydney 13-15 October
- 5 concurrent sessions
- ‘Ultrasound Intelligence’ theme to encompass technical and human intelligence. - ASUM New Zealand Conference scheduled for July 2024 in Auckland
- ASUM2024 – 1-3 November 2024 in Brisbane will be a face-to-face event.
Education
- Trainee membership has been launched to provide access for those is a medical college training to access the CCPU and/or DDU in parallel to their specialty training.
- New Education Manager currently being recruited.
Events
- Webinars continue to be popular for members and non-members.
- Critical Care masterclass series in July-September
- Face to face events making a comeback but challenges with late registrations.
- Virtual conference – Adolescent Gynaecology in May successful
ASUM Drive
- First year anniversary in May
- 175+ hours of online education from previous conferences and webinars
- Growth continues with additional presentations added each month and engagement with Corporate Partners for additional resources.
Australasian Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (AJUM)
- AJUM has moved to online only (July 2023) to align with sustainability plan.
- Application for Medline submitted and awaiting the review outcome.
ASUM Outreach
- MoU signed with RAD_AID
- Tonga project, with the support of Canon Medical, first site visit in May, with a focus on obstetrics and gynaecology ultrasound. Second visit is scheduled for November with a focus on vascular ultrasound. Two members of the team from Tonga attended ASUM2023 with funding from ASUM Outreach.
- RHD echocardiography screening credential pilot to begin.
- https://www.asum.com.au/asum-outreach/ for updates and reports
MASU Report
We want to stress 2 events during the last period:
The organization of the first MASU East Africa Regional ultrasound conference took place in Nairobi from July 26 –28 2023 with a “preconference hands on workshop” in MSK and fetal ultrasound.
The African Faculty of Jacqueline Mavuti, Kareem AbdelAziz and Bernadette Muthee gave excellent presentations.
We had the pleasure to have the participation of 3 excellent WFUMB speakers (Odd Helge Gilja, Christian Nolsoe and Christoph F Dietrich). They were invited to cover several topics. The contents were published in Echoes September 2023.
Total attendees 105 from Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Sudhir Vinayak and his team, with industry support, organized an excellent congress with the attendees treated to excellent African hospitality.
After the successful first meeting of the CA.MU.SO, Cameroonian Ultrasonography Society, in December 2022, in Yaoundé, Professor ZEH Fernande Odile, President of the CA.MU.SO wants to organize WFUMB COE course for the French speaking area during 2024, under the auspices of WFUMB and MASU. For that, she wants to have an agreement of the WFUMB board.
She asked me for having 3 WFUMB lecturers for this course, CA.MU.SO will support the local fees, WFUMB will support the transportation fees for the three lecturers. We hope this request will be agreed by the WFUMB Board.
Hassen A. GHARBI
FLAUS Report
August 2023, XXI Congress in Panamá city
Attendees from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Estados Unidos, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica , El Salvador, Guatemala, México, Panamá, Perú, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Salvador and Honduras became members of FLAUS, their submissions were approved during the congress assembly.
A new board was elected:
- President - Dra. Edda Chaves
- Past President - Dr. Daniel Cafici
- President Elect - Dr. Peter Françolin
- Secretary - Dr. Ivan Quiroz
- Treasurers - Dr. Juan Bracho & Dr. Paulo Savoia
- Director - Dr. Jacqueline Reyes & Dr. Wilson Serrano
Attended:
- Euroson 2023 in May 2023
- Mexican Federation of Ultrasound congress in August 2023
- Dominican Republican Ultrasound congress in October 2023
- Participation in World Forum Trends organised by the Brazilian College or Radiology
Webinars:
FLAUS began a series of monthly webinars the first one given by AVUM. Venezuelan society of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology in October 2023 with the following one on 8th of November by the Chilean Ultrasound Society. Clinical cases one every month the first one given by the Peruvian Ultrasound Society.
EFSUMB Report
After difficult years with cancelled and postponed congresses, the joint congress of WFUMB, EFSUMB and the Romanian Ultrasound Society in Timisoara 2022 was something like a rejuvenating cure for EFSUMB. This experience was reinforced by a very successful EUROSON2023 Congress in Riga, Latvia, in May 2023.
However, both congresses were overshadowed by the horrors of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which has now lasted 21 months and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, not only soldiers, but also women and children, patients in hospitals, mothers with their newborns and old people in nursing homes. Now, at WFUMB2023, we are once again confronted with the inhumanity of terror and war in unimaginable brutality in the region where the congress is held. Hamas's unimaginably brutal terrorist attack destroyed the lives of more Israeli citizens and guests in a single day than at any time since the Shoah. Smoldering conflicts were ignited with unimaginable force and have since destroyed the lives, health and futures of thousands of innocent civilians in the region - Israelis and Palestinians alike. The terrorists have taken hostages, not only Israelian inhabitants, but also its own people, the Palestinian families living in the Gaza Strip. Countless human tragedies are occurring, mostly affecting peacefully living, innocent people. Lives are senselessly destroyed in a brutal logic of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". But: all these human lives have the same value, are irreplaceable, independently of age, gender, religion, nation or political belief. Aggression, war, and retaliation completely counteracts what we as medical professionals strive for: protection of human life and health with equal access to adequate health care everywhere. War will not solve political conflicts, but will withdraw resources from healthcare and preservation of human resources.
No medical society can remain silent in the face of senseless destruction of life and retreat to medical craft, continuing education and pure science. At stake here are the very foundations of our medical ethics. That is why EFSUMB has also decided to publish its medically based position on the website with two appeals to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine (March 28, 2022) and the Middle East (October 16, 2023; https://efsumb.org/call-for-peace/).
EFSUMB, the whole European Ultrasound Family, being doctors and members of other medical professions condemn cruelty to human beings and the destruction of human life. We strongly feel the duty to maintain bridges of reason, humanity, medical collaboration, and peace, and WFUMB2023 in Muscat offers another excellent opportunity to do so. From this place, EFSUMB sends the warm wishes and thoughts of our members to all our friends, colleagues in Israel and Palestine who are trying to save the lives of the thousands of war victims, sometimes under the most difficult circumstances. We call on the political leaders to do everything possible to prevent further escalation, to protect the lives of civilians, to give medical professionals the chance to do their work and to provide humanitarian aid.
Ukrainian Solidarity Program
In solidarity with our Ukrainian members and in respect for the fact that they carry out their medical duties under the most difficult circumstances, at the risk of their own lives, EFSUMB put together a solidarity package for our Ukrainian friends in 2022. Numerous Ukrainian colleagues were able to attend our EUROSON Schools and the EUROSON Congresses in Timisoara and now in Riga free of charge. In Riga the Ukrainian delegation with 67 attendants (9.4%) was the second largest national group. Our Ukrainian members have been and will be waived their membership fees as long as the war rages.
A series of five webinars on the role of Ultrasound in Trauma and War Injuries took place from 25 August 2022 to January 2023 aimed mainly at our Ukrainian members and was translated to Ukrainian language by our Honorary Fellow, Iryna Bekalo. Online and on our website, this webinar series was followed by 47,354 listeners.
Guidelines, Position Papers, key topics of EFSUMBs activities
A trademark of EFSUMB was and is its successful, much-cited Clinical Practice Guidelines. We have raised the standards for the quality of these guidelines including the use of the PRISMA 2020 reporting system for systematic literature assessment. This demand has its price. The new methodological process consented in 2019, costs a lot of time. Nevertheless, we have succeeded in publishing the first part of the PoCUS guidelines in 2023 on the basis of this new methodological concept (Jarman RD et al. Ultraschall Med 2023; 44(01): e1-e24).
The guidelines on multiparametric ultrasound of the thyroid, breast and scrotum will also follow this methodological process and the strict EFSUMB protocol for the development of guidelines (Jenssen C et al. Ultrasound Int Open 2019; 5: E2–E10). We have to admit that we are behind schedule here, but can announce now the submission of the evidence-based EFSUMB Guidelines on Multiparametric Thyroid Ultrasound (Chair: Vito Cantisani) for the first quarter of 2024, followed by the second part of our PoCUS Guidelines and that of multiparametric ultrasound of the breast and scrotum later in 2024. The ‘Professional Standards in Ultrasound’ Position Paper of EFSUMB has been published in October 2022 (Wüstner M et al. Ultraschall Med. 2022 Oct;43(5):e36-e48), and the manuscript on a comprehensive survey on Ultrasound Practices in European countries is in preparation (Radzina M et al.). A Task Force Group led by Christian B. Laursen started this year to develop ‘Professional Standards and Training Recommendations for Thoracic Ultrasound’. The update of the Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound position paper (Dietrich CF et al.) was recently published in Ultraschall Med/ EJU (Ultraschall Med. 2023 Sep 25).
A cooperation between the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EuSEM) and EFSUMB resulted in a Joint Position Paper of both societies on ‘Emergency Point-of-Care Ultrasound Stewardship’ and was endorsed by WFUMB and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) (Osterwalder J et al. Ultraschall Med. 2023; 44(4):379-388).
We have recognized that we need to expand the reach of our guidelines beyond the circle of ultrasound professional societies. Therefore, we have integrated the GIUS guidelines on IBD (together with interactive tools like Ultrasound activity indices) and the WFUMB guidelines on CEUS of liver lesions into the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Guideline App, which meanwhile contains 34 guidelines and has been downloaded by 25,000 users. Interestingly, about 30 % of those reading a guideline in the UEG App did not know about the guideline before using the App.
Extension of EFSUMBs Focus: not only about high-end, specialized ultrasound
Much of what EFSUMB has been pushing for in recent years is about specialized, high-end ultrasound. This is important and will remain an important field of EFSUMBs activities in the future. However, especially with the increasing use of small portable and hand-held ultrasound systems, the method is also available as point-of-care imaging outside of clinics, radiology practices and specialist practices. This opens opportunities, but at the same time poses the challenge of providing adequate training to the many potential users of ultrasound in primary health care. Therefore, EFSUMB has initiated a TASK Force group (lead by Camilla A. Andersen) that has been working very hard for 1 year to develop a PoCUS curriculum for GPs, family physicians, pediatricians, palliative care physicians and other "frontline physicians". Here we are progressing step by step and have started a DELPHI survey on the contents of the EFSUMB Core Curriculum “PoCUS in primary health care”.
Constitution and Bylaws
In 2022, EFSUMB has adopted important modernization of its constitution. The main issue was to strengthen the democratic culture and ethical policy of EFSUMB. Moreover, we have laid the foundation for strengthening cooperation with other European medical and scientific societies with an interest in ultrasound through formal partnerships. We have also brought these constitutional amendments to life. For the first time, EFSUMB is led by a female president, Caroline Ewertsen. 50 years after the founding of the EFSUMB, this was an overdue step that also acknowledges the great contribution that so many female EFSUMB members have made for decades. Currently, with Alina Popescu (honorary treasurer) and Camilla Andersen (co-opted member), two more women are represented in the ExB. For the first time, representatives of sonographers (Hazel Edwards) and GPs (Camilla Andersen) are part of the leadership of EFSUMB. Meanwhile we have established formal partnerships by Memorandums of Understanding with 5 European Medical Societies, the most important with ESR, UEG and EASL.
EUROSON 2023
Prepared by Maija Radzina and her wonderful organizing team together with the hosting Latvian Ultrasound Association (LUSA), EUROSON2023 was held in Riga, Latvia, from May 25 – 27 with great enthusiasm, imagination and dedication (https://www.euroson2023).
The congress was attended by 715 delegates from 43 countries. In addition, the 2 Pre-Congress Schools had 161 participants. For the second time a medical students congress (STUC) was hosted by EUROSON with 142 medical students taking part very actively. Special highlights were a series of 3 public ultrasound events and the Sono Cave with 127 attendees, supported by 10 vendors with their ultrasound machines and simulators.
A total of 173 submitted and 165 accepted abstracts reflected the high scientific level of the congress. However, we must acknowledge, that after the Covid pandemic, in face of increasing economic crises, growing political tensions and dangerous military conflicts, participation in EUROSON congresses is lower and sponsoring is increasingly difficult. Therefore, EFSUMB has decided to hold its EUROSON Congress in the future every 2 years alternating with the WFUMB Congresses, with EUROSON2024 planned for Naples, Italy from November 9 – 11, 2024.
Educational activities
EFSUMB is fortunate to have Bracco sponsorship for four CEUS webinars each year. Two were focused on Europe and two with Chinese experts. These and all the other webinars related to EFSUMB key topics, such as the Head & Neck Ultrasound Webinar supported by GE Healthcare, the Webinar series on Ultrasound in Trauma and War Injury and the Webinars on liver fat and stiffness evaluation and on liver CEUS. They are all available on the EFSUMB website. We plan to broaden the scope of our webinars, especially including PoCUS topics. Several EUROSON Schools and EFSUMB-endorsed courses took place and were highly successful. I would like to mention from the last 12 months the International CEUS course in Munich, EUROSON School PoCUS in Family Medicine in Vienna, the 1st EUROSON School on Gastrointestinal Ultrasound in Berlin, the Rheumatology Ultrasound Course in Innsbruck, the Dermatological Ultrasound School in Cluj-Napoca and the Sardinian School on the Use of CEUS and Elastography. We gained increasing acceptance with our contributions at other European Congresses, in particular at ESR, UEGWeek (with 250 participants of our Gastroenterological Ultrasound Learning Area) and EASL Congresses. We have decided to provide open access for the 2nd edition of the European Ultrasound Coursebook (Editor: C.F. Dietrich). With now 39 chapters, the coursebook is a constantly evolving treasure of knowledge and ultrasound pictures that we make freely available (https://efsumb.org/efsumb-course-book/). Translations into different languages are on the way. Moreover, EFSUMB is very proud to have contributed significantly to the successful WFUMB Ultrasound Book (Editors: Dieter Nürnberg, Cristian Chammas, Odd Helge Gilja, Ion Sporea and Roxana Sirli).
Membership
EFSUMB membership is stable with 29 National Member Societies, some with as few as 7 members to DEGUM with > 11,000 members (but DEGUM paying and voting only for 33% of the total EFSUMB membership = 6437 members), two affiliate member societies (SGUM with 702 members) and 190 individual members to date. Altogether, EFSUMB has had 16,630 members at the end of 2022. However, there are still some white (pink in the picture) spots on the European ultrasound map, which we are trying to close.
WFUMB
EFSUMB continues to be a very active member federation in WFUMB with Ioan Sporea (Vice-President) and Christoph F. Dietrich (Honorary Treasurer) being elected to the Executive Bureau of WFUMB. Among other EFSUMB representatives, Carmel Moran, Roxana Sirli and Adrian Saftoiu are actively contributing as Chairs of the Safety Committee, Students Education Committee, and Publications Committee, respectively. I have been involved in modernising the WFUMB Constitution and have now succeeded Adrian Saftoiu as EFSUMB's administrative councillor.
Our Visions: the EFSUMB 5 Year Strategic Plan
In the next 5 years, we will continue our path to further develop the diversity of European Ultrasound. Education is still our focus, and evidence-based guidelines will be developed in fair cooperation with WFUMB and the other member federations.
We want to set new accents with:
- representing the diversity of all ultrasound practitioners across Europe
- our commitment to physicians who use ultrasound in primary care
- our support for medical students for whom ultrasound is becoming an indispensable part of their studies,
- the cooperation with other scientific societies to integrate ultrasound firmly into the clinical practice of as many specialties as possible and, as the European Ultrasound Federation, to achieve a broad impact beyond the circle of established ultrasound specialists
IS3R (International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology) biennial symposium in Berlin
I attended the IS3R (International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology) biennial symposium in Berlin from August 24-26, 2023, on behalf of WFUMB. WFUMB is a partner society of the IS3R and has no voting rights.
The title of this year’s symposium was: “Imaging’s next chapter: illuminated with the intensity of natural light”. Main topics were work force challenges, AI, value-based radiology and sustainability (ESG).
Across the world there is a general lack of radiologists and technicians, but workload has increased in recent years. Work-life balance has changed in the younger generations and possible ways of addressing and preventing burn-out were covered in an excellent talk by M. Recht (NYU Lagone Health). AI may assist in reducing or prioritizing workload and many companies are on the market. Still there are questions about algorithm maintenance and accuracy when the study population is different from the training population that remain to be answered. Currently AI may help radiologists prioritizing, scheduling, reporting and do repetitive tasks. It is predicted that in the near future, radiologists using AI will replace radiologists not using it and hopefully within 10 years radiologists using comprehensive AI solutions will replace radiologists not using it (K. Dreyer, Massachusetts General Hospital). AI is also available as variable solutions on different imaging modalities including ultrasound.
Precision imaging and targeted therapy was also addressed for different organs from brain to the prostate. In the future we will probably see much for personalized treatment for different cancers as different biomarkers are discovered and targeted chemotherapy will be more common.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is a hot topic with mandatory reporting in many countries. The energy consumption of different imaging modalities and workstations were reported and also how physicians and companies may reduce the carbon footprint. It was also emphasized that radiologists, and doctors in general, have a responsibility not to practice defensive medicine and be aware that only strictly needed examinations should be recommended – not the ones that are only “nice to have”. Ensuring that the patients who need further follow up are identified and followed-up is also important and can be improved, as there are still patients falling between chairs. This was addressed in another interesting talk, which was followed by a very inspiring talk by D. Akata, Ankara about diversity in leadership and how we ensure this and motivate colleagues to obtain it.
The meeting was very inspiring and a great opportunity to meet colleagues from around the world and exchange ideas. I would like to thank the WFUMB ExB for letting me participate on behalf of WFUMB and the organisers of the meeting Prof. James Brink and Boris Brkljacic for a very inspiring and interesting programme.
Caroline Ewertsen
Copenhagen, Denmark
NEW COE - Beijing, China
Chinese Medical Association/Chinese Society of Ultrasound in Medicine (CMA/CSUM) signed the official agreement during the WFUMB Congress for the new COE Beijing, China.
CSUM is the top academic and scientific group in China, and organizes the national academic conferences each year. Their academic agenda covers sophisticated and comprehensive topics and technology in terms of workshops, master classes, case supervision, table discussion and invited symposium, representing the current academic mainstream par excellence in China. CSUM features as modernized in academic, scientific in management and internationalized in its development, forging core strength in promoting the development of ultrasound in medicine in China.
Signing MoU with CSUM at Muscat, Oman. L-R Leandro Fernandez CoE TFG Chair, Prof Ping Liang President CSUM, Prof Ioan Sporea VP1 and Prof Franca Meloni Chair of Edu Comm
COE Beijing, China future events ....
1. Annual meeting of CSUM
2. Youth Forum of CSUM March 23,2024, in Xi’an
3. CSUM-interventional ultrasound standardized hands-on training class (Season Four, 10 classes in total )
4. CSUM-Gynaecological and Obstetric Ultrasound standardized training national lecture Tour (five classes in total)
Luminary Interview with Gebhard Mathis
How & when did you begin your ultrasound career
At the beginning of my postgraduate training in 1978, the Minister of Health, Mrs Leodolter, equipped all obstetrics departments in Austria with an ultrasound machine to reduce infant mortality. The internists immediately jumped at it while the gynaecologists were in the operating theatre. We then travelled to Erlangen to Rettenmaier and Lutz for further training. Hohenems Hospital was the first in the province of Vorarlberg to consistently practise abdominal sonography.
What were your ultrasound career highlights?
Invitations to give lectures, particularly in Central Europe, especially at the ultrasound 3-country meetings, but also overseas, e.g. to New Zealand, USA, India, etc. for congresses. Publication of the textbook on lung sonography with several separate chapters, first published in 1992, most recently in the 7th edition in German and in the 5th edition in English. Numerous publications in prominent journals such as "Thoracic ultrasound for diagnosing pulmonary embolism: a prospective multicentre study of 352 patients" Chest 2005;128:1531-8.
43 y old woman with pleuritic pain and not evidence of thrombosis. In lung ultrasound a typical triangular consolidation
What has been the most significant change you have seen in ultrasound technology?
Continuous improvement of B-scan quality in precise resolution (refinement, better controllable contrast). Then the development of sonographic vascular diagnostics with flow profiles and Colour Doppler.
What has been your most recent involvement with ultrasound technology?
Actually I am engaged in lung ultrasound in lectures at congresses and courses with hands on. I also read a lot of literature on the subject and write papers and book contributions.
Nov 29 2023
Gebhard Mathis
Knocking vessels at the margin of pulmonary infarction but no central vascularization in contrast to pneumonia
Upcoming Congresses
Obituary
It is with great sadness that we remember our friends and colleagues who have left us recently. We celebrate their lives and their huge contribution to the Ultrasound world.
Karel Maršál
1943 - 2023
It was with sadness that we received word that Karel Maršál had passed away on March 6, 2023. Karel Maršál, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus at Lund University and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center in Lund, was born in Prague, former Czechoslovakia, in 1943. After completing his undergraduate studies at Charles University in Prague, he and his fiancée Lida moved as political refugees to Sweden in 1968. In 1973, they came to Malmö, where Karel gained his specialty in obstetrics and gynecology. Already then, Malmö was a nursery for research on fetal physiology and monitoring; in 1977, Karel defended his PhD Thesis, “Ultrasonic Measurements of Fetal Breathing Movements in Man”. Karel became Head of the Perinatal Division at the University Hospital in Malmö and later professor. In 1995, he became Honorary Professor at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and, in 1997, Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Lund.
Karel’s interests encompassed perinatology, obstetrics, fetal monitoring, OB/GYN ultrasound, Doppler ultrasound, fetal physiology, ultrasound safety, and obstetric quality assurance. During his 50-year career as a clinician, scientist and teacher, Karel was the main supervisor of 21 PhD students. He led national and international postgraduate courses in perinatal medicine, obstetrics, ultrasound, and obstetric Doppler ultrasound. He was principal investigator in numerous national and international multicenter studies, and his list of publications includes 354 original papers, 132 book chapters and reviews, and 14 textbooks. He also served on the editorial board of several scientific journals.
Karel’s international work included serving as president of the International Society of Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG), and as board member of EFSUMB, WFUMB. Among his many honors are the prestigious Ian Donald Gold Medal and the Haackert Gold Medal in Prenatal Medicine.
Karel’s ground-breaking scientific work and deeds have benefitted mothers and children across the world. He will be remembered as a quietly jovial, sharp-witted gentleman with a human perspective, and as a friend.
Sturla H. Eik-Nes, Norway, Reynir Tomas Geirsson, Iceland, Saemundur Gudmundsson, Sweden, Pentti Jouppila, Finland, Torvid Kiserud, Norway, Karin Källén, Sweden, Torben Larsen, Denmark, Per Olofsson, Sweden, Per-Håkan Persson, Sweden, Ann Thuring, Sweden, Lil Valentin, Sweden
Karel Maršál’s scientific contributions are numerous and known to anyone in the field of perinatology/ultrasound/Doppler. I knew Karel through many interactions at meetings but particularly through our common interest in ultrasound safety. Karel was the founding chair of the Rapid Response Group initiated by ISUOG in 1995 and on which we sat together. This became the Bioeffects and Safety Committee which Karel chaired until 2000 when I succeeded him. We also worked together on the WFUMB Safety Committee. During these periods, he was instrumental in the preparation of various statements and guidelines. His contributions were always erudite, sensible and productive. His intelligence, modesty and kindness were immense. I and many others in the world of Obstetrics and Gynecology owe him recognition for what the field has evolved into, particularly in regards to fetal physiology, growth restriction and Doppler velocimetry.
Jacques S. Abramowicz, MD, FACOG, FAIUM
Jorge Rabbat
1958 - 2023
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Dr Jorge Rabbat on August 20, 2023 in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela.
Jorge graduated as a medical surgeon from the Universidad de Oriente (UDO), Núcleo Bolívar over 33 years ago and specialized as a general and trauma surgeon, as well as in ultrasound. He served as a professor at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela and was the head of Surgery at the Ruiz y Páez Hospital located in Ciudad Bolívar. Jorge was president of the Latin American Federation of Ultrasound Societies (FLAUS) from 2017-2019, was honorary president of ECOMED 2018, AVUM’s annual congress and the FLAUS representative to the World Ultrasound Federation between 2019 and 2021. He was recognized as an honorary member of both the Ultrasound Society of the Dominican Republic and of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery and was an active member of the Pan American Trauma Society.
Jorge was very involved in ultrasound teaching not only in Venezuela, but also in Central and South America. His experience as an international speaker spanned areas of ultrasound in emergency, trauma, and surgery. He built an impeccable career in Venezuela and founded the Las Nieves Clinic, an institution that contributed to the medical field and generated employment for professionals from various medical disciplines.
Jorge was an excellent professional, but more than that he was a very dear friend to all of us, always cheerful and ready to assist. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his wife, daughters, and grandchildren.
Dr. Jorge Rabat’s legacy will endure in the medical community and beyond.
Cristina Chammas
