30. Mai 2001 52nd Annual Meeting of the Germa - Deutsche ...

Welcome address of the Congress President
Ladies and gentlemen,
dear colleagues and friends,
A warm and heartfelt welcome to the 52 nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery in
Bielefeld. This Westfalian city is your host for the first time, and it is indeed a pleasure for the 20year-old,
thus relatively young local neurosurgery to host this congress.
With 530 highly qualitative lectures, video and poster registrations, you have demonstrated an
immense interest in this event, and I am extremely grateful for this. Unfortunately there is not enough
time to present all the submissions. Since our time is restricted, parallel sessions will also be held.
Under these circumstances we were still able to accept 368 presentations which accounts for 70 % of
the submissions.
The program will be supplemented with a wide spectrum of workshops, hands-on courses and
morning seminars. We will present and discuss current, controversial, and interesting topics
throughout the congress. We are especially pleased to announce that for the first time a joint
workshop with the study group of neuroaenesthesiology of the German Society of Anesthesiology and
Intensive Care will be taking place here. There is also a joint meeting with the Federation of Operative
Medical-Science Societies to present the topic of metastasis surgery within the entire surgical
spectrum. Hands-on courses have been especially designed for our younger colleagues for their daily
practice.
Our purpose in planning this year’s program was to present the broad spectrum of neurology and its
state-of-the-art. The main topics, on one hand, deal with the pathology of the axis in the central
nervous system, on the other hand with the chronic subdural hematoma - a topic of special interest in
our daily work. Another main topic is the surgery of epilepsies, which has made enormous strides and
stands for the complete spectrum of the neurological, neuroradiological and neurosurgical challenges.
A variety of themes have been contributed as Free topics: especially in the area of experimental
research. These research activities are a positive validation for German neurosurgery. A state-of-theart
lecture will be offered for each main topic, being both overview and introduction.
It is indeed a great honor for me to have been tasked by the German Society of Neurosurgery to
bestow the Fedor-Krause-Medal upon Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Seeger, and to bestow the Wilhelm-Tönnis-
Medal upon Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Grote. These prestigious award ceremonies and the accompanying
lectures will be of special interest to all of us.
For the first time, we are presenting a large number of the lectures live in the Internet. This is to
enable those who cannot join us personalley to attend this year’s meeting in a special way. These
lectures will then be available in the Internet for about one year. Another innovation is that the
abstracts will also be made available in the Internet by a scientific publisher and will nonetheless be
quotable. All abstracts will also be available on site, both in a book and on CD.
I would be delighted if you and your guest and our visitors would take part in the cultural program we
have provided, in order to visit and enjoy the cultural development of Bielefeld and its surroundings.
In the evening there is always time to participate in discussions, make new friends and deepen old
friendships. I especially want to point out the social gathering in the old Gemeindehaus of Bethel, the
Assapheum, where the Berlin “Comedian Harmonists” will provide us with outstanding entertainment.
On behalf of my team, I hope you have a wonderful time in Bielefeld.
Falk Oppel