IIO AiM
NATIONAL CONGRESSThe Second National Congress of the
Italian Association of Myology
has
taken place in Turin on 14th and 15th June in the wonderful frame
represented
by Palazzo Carignano, the beautiful palace built by Guarino Guarini in
1679 with revolutionary architectural criteria for the Royal Family,
later
home of the Piedmontese Parliament and finally of the early Italian
Parliament
and presently housing the Museum of Italian Risorgimento. The very hall
of the Italian Parliament, utilized only for a few months, before the
Italian
capital was moved from Turin to Florence and then Rome, was used for
the
poster session and for lunch and coffee breaks; scientific sessions
were
held in the adjacent conference room, the same utilized for speeches by
President Ciampi on his visits and by other personalities.
The Congress was opened by the Director of the II Neurology Clinic
of the University of Turin, professor Roberto Mutani, followed by the
president
of the Italian Association of Myology, professor Giuseppe Vita from
Messina,
and the former Neurology Chairman professor Davide Schiffer, who began
the study of neuromuscular diseases in Turin. The morning was then
occupied
by three plenary lectures: the first, given by professor Stefano
Schiaffino
from Padua, brilliantly reviewed his recent discoveries about the
pathogenetic
mechanisms of muscle atrophy and in particular the function of specific
genes controlling muscle proteins and their modifications under
different
circumstances. The second and the third lecture dealt with the problem
of respiratory insufficiency in neuromuscular patients, giving the up
to
date opinions of the Intensivist (professor Marco Ranieri, Turin) and
of
the Pneumologist (doctor Andrea Vianello, Padua) and illustrating the
different
therapeutic approaches to the pathology: The former described the
importance
of new tecniques of invasive ventilation in acute cases and the latter
discussed indications and limits of non invasive tecniques for
treatment
of chronic insufficiency.
The rest of the day was dedicated to scientific sessions devoted to
the pathogenetic mechanisms and to the genotype-phenotype correlations.
The level of the communications was very good and the audience was much
interested and intervened in active and proficuous discussion; several
topics were touched, spanning from molecular biology insights to more
clinical
topics. The participants were not only neurologists, but also
pathologists,
pediatricians, neuropediatricians and cardiologists, which made the
discussion
particularly stimulating, bringing together different theoretical
approaches
and viewpoints. A poster session included several additional
contributions,
that were broadly discussed.
The first day was concluded by the assembly of the members of the
association
and later by a sumptuous dinner at the restaurant “Del Cambio”, the
same
place where the members of the Parliament used to go for lunch back in
1700-1800 and where one can still breathe the atmosphere of the bygone.
The President of the Association, professor Giuseppe Vita, was caught
sitting
in the very same seat as the Count of Cavour when he dined there…
The second congress day began with a very intriguing session, invented
last year at Camogli: the Muscle Club. It is a session where
researchers
present challenging cases open to discussion and the audience can
interact
with questions, suggestions and ideas. This year the presented cases
were
not many, but given the great success and the vivacity of the
discussion,
the session definitely deserves to be encouraged.
As an invited speaker professor Salvatore DiMauro (Columbia University,
New York), Honorary Member of AIM, with his usual catching clearness,
described
the new advances in glycogenoses.
The morning was closed by a session of comunications regarding
mitochondrial
diseases, after which the congress was closed with warm thanks to all
the
participants and the best wishes for another fruitful meeting next
year.
Laura Palmucci and Tiziana Mongini
Addenda to 2 nd AiM National Conference
