ECR 2013 – Final Programme - myESR.org

WelcomeIt is a great pleasure and a privilege to welcome youto Vienna for the European Congress of Radiology(ECR), the annual meeting of the world’s largestradiological society. The ECR has become one of themost keenly anticipated medical conferences overthe last two decades, not only as a place to come andlearn about the scientific, medical and professionalissues of the day, but to meet our colleagues fromthroughout the world of imaging, to exchange opinions,experience, and knowledge, and to enjoy theinimitable atmosphere of the ECR and its home city,Vienna.I would especially like to address this welcome toour younger attendees, who have been appearingat our congress in increasing numbers in recentyears. It is enormously encouraging to see that newgenerations are not only developing an interest inradiology and radiography, but that they are committedenough to make the trip to Vienna for whatmay well be the most inspiring experience of theirearly careers. I am also personally delighted that we,as a society, are able to make this trip a reality forseveral thousand young people by providing supportthrough the Invest in the Youth programme.Thanks to this very valuable initiative, as well as freeregistration for all students, I am looking forwardto seeing many budding radiologists and radiographersat the Austria Center this year.Each ECR is different from the last; each has its ownunique character and there are always innovationsthat make each congress stand out from its predecessors.But just as important as these differencesare those factors that always remain: the visionand talent that we find within our community andthe enduring appeal of radiological science. This iswhat makes the quality of our scientific and educationalprogramme so exceptionally high, bringingthousands of visitors, who are committed to radiologyand self-improvement, from all over the worldto Vienna each year. On this note, I would like tooffer my sincerest thanks to every member of theProgramme Planning Committee for their fan-tastic work in assembling this programme and tothe extremely capable team at the ESR Office for alltheir support. I am honoured to have played a partin the creation and organisation of this congress,and I hope that every one of you will gain just asmuch pleasure from attending as I will from seeingthe carefully laid plans and hard work of so manypeople come to fruition.This year’s programme offers many sessions, inmany different formats, with the aim of educatingand entertaining at the same time. As usual, someof the most successful and popular sessions willbe repeated from previous congresses, but plentyof others will be new. The congress is constantlyevolving, and the Programme Planning Committeeand ESR Office strive tirelessly to stay ahead of theeducational needs and demands of radiologists andradiographers.Categorical Courses are the heart of our programme,offering the deepest exploration of anytopics at the congress. At ECR 2013 there will bethree of these courses: ‘Never without Arteries’ willbe this year’s contribution to the recently initiated‘Clinical Lessons for Imaging Core Knowledge –CLICK’ series; ‘Oncologic Imaging: Follow-up ofSystemic and Local Therapies’ will summarise themost recent information about how responses totherapy should be evaluated in most oncologic situations;and ‘Urogenital Imaging’ will be a continuationof the ECR 2012 session, covering the latest topics.The programme is always prepared with a strongemphasis on interaction, since the exchange of ideasis a major way to teach and learn. This year the successful‘E 3 – European Excellence in Education’will include fourteen 90-minute sessions, whichwill cover all the major aspects of radiology, withattractive titles such as ‘tips and tricks’ and ‘pitfalls’.The Foundation Course will deal with neuroimagingand, as in previous years, will be followed by aself-assessment test. There will also be two practicalcourses on how to ‘Update your Skills’, which will8