Neuro-Intensive Care (NIC)

Aims and Missions

The NeuroIntensive Care section promotes and supports the participation of its members in research and training in neurointensive care and in developing the scientific content of the annual congress and other scientific activities in this area.

Chair and deputy

Chair Pedro Navarrete - Granada, Spain

Deputy Mauro Oddo - Lausanne, Switzerland

Membership

There are currently 151 voting members and 1684 registered members. Please note that only the voting members of the Section may elect the chair and the deputy.

Do you wish to be one of the members of this Section or do you wish to change your Section registration? Please ipdate your subscrition in your My Data page.

Activities

The mission of this Section is to improve outcomes for patients with life-threatening neurological illnesses. In particular, our mission is to promote:

Professional Collaboration by providing a forum for communication, collaboration, and exchange of ideas between physicians and allied health-care professionals within different specialties who care for critically ill neurological patients.
Training and Education by developing standards for training and physician competencies in the subspecialty of neurological intensive care.
Research by fostering experimental, clinical, and outcomes research focused on developing medical and surgical interventions for acute neurological disorders.
Advocacy by making the case to patients, the public, policy makers and other health-care professionals that complex, life-threatening neurological diseases are best cared for by a multidisciplinary team with specialised expertise in neurological critical care.
Collaboration by developing links with other scientific sections of the ESICM, specially TEM and other sections or scientific societies related to Neurointensive Care.

Specific activities

1. Annual Congress

The NIC Section organizes the programme related to neurointensive care for the most important activity of the ESICM. The web page of the NIC Section is the forum where members can propose scientific topics and other issues to be considered for inclusion in the different sessions of the congress

2. Summer courses

The NIC Section developed post-graduate courses on neurological intensive care. The aim of these courses has been to provide theoretical background for the basis of neurointensive care and then practical points to deliver high quality neurological intensive care. In June 2010, in collaboration with SCCM and the Irish Society of Intensive Care, we hold the 9th Summer Conference (Dublin Castle, Ireland, 10-12 June 2010). The topic was “Acute Brain Injury”. This summer course was a success with more than 300 attendants. Lecturers were from the ESICM and the SCCM. Such meetings are also a great opportunity to reinforce the links between the ESICM and the homologue American societies, SCCM and NCCS.

Given this success, we aim to plan another Summer Course in 2012. All proposals for subjects for a 2012 Summer Course should be sent to the NIC Chair, Pedro Navarrete.

3. NIC section guidelines/statements

During our NIC section meeting in Barcelona, October 2010, we decided to produce 2 ESICM statements, 1 on Neurological Evaluation and 1 on EEG monitoring. Tarek Sharshar, from the University of Paris-Versailles, and Peter Horn, from the University of Berlin-Charité, are the two chairs of these statements. Work is ongoing with several contributors (neurologists and neuro-intensivists from Europe and the US) and we plan to present final drafts during our next NIC section meeting at ESICM 2011 Berlin, October 2-5. This is in line with previous ESICM consensus documents (see Andrews PJ, Citerio G, Longhi L, Polderman K, Sahuquillo J, Vajkoczy P. NIC consensus on neurological monitoring in acute neurological disease. Intensive Care Med. 2008 Aug;34(8):1362-70). These statements will be published in Intensive Care Medicine journal.

Contact the section Deputy Mauro Oddo for further information

Clinical trials: Potential research projects have been suggested from Section members and non-members involving neurological intensive care. These can now be submitted to the newly created Critical Trial Research Group (CTRG) of the ECCRN (European Critical Care Research Network). The second Trial Group meeting will take place in Brussels the 5th and the 6th of May, at the NH Hotel du Grand Sablon. All proposals from the NIC can be sent to the NIC section Deputy, Mauro Oddo.

Ongoing trials: "European Society of Intensive Care Medicine study of therapeutic hypothermia (32-35°C) after traumatic brain injury. Study Acronym: Eurotherm3235trial”. To require information on the trial go to website http://www.eurotherm3235trial.eu/ or contact Peter Andrews (Principal Investigator) or Louise Sinclair.

Meetings agenda and minutes

NIC section meeting during ESICM 2010 Barcelona: this was a success with 27 participants.

NIC section meeting during the ISICEM 2011, Brussels: also very successful with 16 participants. The progress of the two ESICM statements was the main topic of the agenda, and was presented by Tarek Sharshar and Peter Horn.
May 5-6, 2011: Critical Trial Research Group (CTRG) meeting, Bruxelles. Contact Mauro Oddo, or directly ESICM Research Department.

Our next NIC section meeting will be held on Tuesday October 4th, 2011 from 7.15 to 8.30 in room BM2 during the ESICM 2011 Berlin. Agenda will be available soon.

ACTION POINTS:

Contact Pedro Navarrete for NIC section activities, communication, promotion of meetings, proposals for summer courses, administrative issues
Contact Mauro Oddo for NIC section scientific activities, research proposals, proposals of surveys, trials
Involve interested colleagues for promoting the section activities and on the need of a more active participation.