Trends in Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions

Abstract

The European-Japanese Cerebrovascular Congress originally started as a Swiss-Japanese joint conference on cerebral aneurysm. The Congress was held in Zürich, Switzerland, from 5–7 May 2001 with Prof. Y. Yonekawa of Zürich and Prof. Y. Sakurai of Sendai as the presidents. At that time, Japanese National Hospitals received Health Sciences Research Grants for Medical Frontier Strategy Research from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare regarding multi-center studies on the treatment of unruptured cerebral aneurysms. Since an international cooperative study was organized between Prof. Yonekawa of the Department of Neurosurgery of Zürich University and Japanese National Hospitals, the congress was planned as a research meeting for the theme. The first day offered a unique opportunity to gather European and Japanese neurosurgeons to discuss the treatment of unruptured cerebral aneurysms. Presentation of these new clinical experiences facilitated intensive discussions in order to clarify updated and appropriate ways to focus the treatment. The second day provided updated information on neurocritical care as well as endovascular and surgical treatment modalities carried out in daily practice in Zürich and Japan. Roundtable discussions encouraged interactive communication between the participants and faculties