ESPR/haematology, oxygen transport and microcirculation

MINUTES

Minutes of the business section meeting on Monday, 6.8.2001, at the Main Building of the University of Helsinki

4 members present, 6 apologies

1. The secretary welcomed the members.
   The minutes of the 2000 business meeting were approved.
   The secretary gave a report on this year’s meeting. 19 abstracts were submitted for our section which were reviewed by 5 reviewers from different countries. Three abstract were rejected. Generally the overall quality of abstracts submitted was very good this year. The secretary thanked the reviewers for their quick response and participation. At the Helsinki meeting there was one poster session and one parallel session dedicated to Haematology and Microcirculation.
   This year the section held its first postgraduate course. In spite of only 7 participants registered in advance, the course was very well attended by 33 participants. Some took the effort to fill in the evaluation form.

2. The questions were:
   1. How did you like the topics: average 2/good 10/ excellent 3
   2. How did you like the contents: average 1/good 9/ excellent 3
   3. Were your expectations met? 7 yes, 1 no (because too short)
   4. How was the time frame? 12 just right, 2 too short
   5. Which other topics would you like to be covered in future courses?
   6. Neonatology
   7. Brain
   8. New methods/techniques in depth
   9. Infection
   10. Oxygen-transport/toxicity
   11. Microcirculation methods in detail and practical application in ICU
   12. Molecular bais of reacting tissues
   13. Molecular basis of Type I alveolar cells
   The results were discussed and a rough outline planned for Utrecht. The results were certainly encouraging for further courses.
3. For the meeting in Utrecht 2002 a course on „Capillary leak syndrome" was planned.
4. For the meeting in Bilbao 2003 a course on NIRS with a practical session will be planned.
5. Change of constitution:
   1. It was discussed whether there should be an age limit for the secretary. This was abolished.
   2. The secretary reported that it was quite a workload to organize a course and therefore a second council member for the section would be helpful. This was approved. It was suggested that this could be the President of ESPHI, currently Dr Lazlo Marodi. The secretary will contact him about this.
6. Change of Section name
   1. This was discussed and the members suggested that it should be short and comprehensive.
   2. Therefore the name was changed to Section of Microcirculation. It was felt that this included every topic and was the best general name.

The meeting closed as there being no other business.

14.08.2001/ Heike Rabe, Secretary for ESPR/ Microcirculation

Minutes of the business section meeting on Monday, 25.9.2000, at the Rhodos Palace Hotel

5 members present, 3 apologies

The secretary welcomed the members.

1. The minutes of the 1999 business meeting were approved.
   
2. The secretary gave a report on this year’s meeting. 22 abstracts were submitted for our section which were reviewed by 5 reviewers from different countries. One abstract was rejected. Generally the overall quality of abstracts submitted was very good this year. The secretary thanked the reviewers for their quick response and participation. The invited lecture was given by Sverre Halvorsen on „Secrets and abundance of placental blood" which was followed by abstracts submitted to our section.
3. For the Helsinki meeting in 2001 the president Kari Raivio has chosen oxygen as molecul for the day on Monday, 6th August. Members suggested names for the invited lecture on hypoxia which will be forwarded to the president.
4. Future topics as for example for the meeting in Utrecht were discussed: sheer forces in endothelial gene expression; role of free radicals in disease;
5. It was stressed that new members are always welcome and young investigators should be encouraged to attend the conferences. There are various options to support them with financial help (contact: Petra Hüppi).
6. There was a suggestion to put the first author‘s email-address on the abstract, poster or title slide to encourage further contact or discussion even after the meeting. It was also suggested to have a mandatory attendance time at the poster in order to enhance discussion.
   The meeting closed as there being no other business.

12.10.2000/ Heike Rabe, Secretary for SHOTM

Minutes of the business meeting on Sunday, 27.6.1999, Panum Institute

9 Members present, 1 apology

1. The secretary welcomed the members. All members had received the invitation for the business meeting prior to the conference. The secretary gave a report on the review of 12 abstracts for this meeting. Five members took part in the process and 1 abstract was rejected.
2. The draft of the constitution for the section was discussed and amended. After that the constitution was approved. It will be put on the website.
3. Members stressed the point that new members are always welcome to join the group and that there should be some contact within the group during the year. Contacts can be made directly or via the website.
4. The secretary reported on the plans for the meeting in Rhodos 2000. The sections will be able to organize one session with an invited speaker. Members suggested that the topic should be on an update of feto-placental transfusion and two speakers were suggested. As the general topic of the meeting will be: Programming of child health and maternal influence factors, further topics were suggested: -iron deficiency, - capillary leak, -free radicals in haematology. The suggestions will be forwarded to Chryssa Bakoula.

   Heike Rabe, Section secretary SHOTM

   ESPR WORKING GROUP ON HAEMATOLOGY, OXYGEN TRANSPORT AND THE MICROCIRCULATION (Formerly Paediatric and Perinatal Microcirculation" [WGPPM]).

   - Retrospective and statement/notes on current, future objectives:

   We aim to provide a forum for colleagues with shared interests in pursuing research and development in the fields encompassed in the Working Group's new (1991) title. Having initially concentrated on cellular haemorheology and the microcirculation, "WGPPM" has for some years sought to extend its remit, with research work concerning, for example, haemopoiesis and haemopoietic growth factors, blood volume and oxygen delivery, to supplement continued concern with the microcirculation. NICU, SCBU and PICU are the clinical areas to which the research topics have been most often related.

   Very successful symposia and free paper sessions have taken place, for example, at ESPR annual meetings in Wien 1990, Zurich 1991, Uppsala 1992, Edinburgh 1993 and Alicante 1995. We felt that useful exchanges of information and research ideas and methods have stemmed from these sessions. Sometimes, however, ESPR conference organisers have felt bound to hold simultaneous sessions with other organisations with overlapping interests, e.g. ESPHI. We recognise the constraints under which conference organisers must operate, though at some ESPR meetings the allocation of sessions and papers to our W.G. has, inevitably, suffered because of these constraints and "competing" meetings.

   For the present and future of the W.G. we believe that current R+D in, e.g. haemopoietic growth factors and haemopoiesis, blood volume and DO2 and the patholophysiology of the microcirculation should permit our group to flourish. We seek to promote sharing of research findings and the development of new ideas in the furtherance of improvements in diagnosis, monitoring and clinical management in sick infants and children of relevance to perinatal, 'medical' and 'surgical' clinical problems.

   Progress in research and development does not occur smoothly and continuously, but in fits and starts. Whenever ESPR conference organisation allows, we hope and believe our working group can stimulate progress and understanding in the vital fields of its remit so as to stimulate improvements in diagnosing, monitoring and therapy of, often, critically ill children.

   Dr Heike Rabe, Muenster, Germany, has been nominated and seconded to succeed Dr Barbara Holland as Secretary of the Working Group. Additional Nominations are welcome. Voting will take place at the Belfast Annual ESPR Meeting in September 1998. Membership of the Working Group is open, of course, to all interested ESPR Members.

   29 April 1998/ Dr Barbara M Holland Consultant Paediatrician Department of Neonatology Queen Mother's Hospital Yorkhill Glasgow G3 8SH

Minutes of the 1998 business meeting in Belfast

The meeting took place after the well attended session on placento-fetal transfusion. It was attended by eight members of the working group.

1. The members suggest that each working should have one own session to organize at each meeting. This could have a specific topic. The working group secretary could help to organize the session and invite one speaker to give an overview lecture followed by 10 min maximum free communications on related research.
2. As the ESPR is a research society the meetings should concentrate on original research. Members suggested topics for working group sessions for future meetings: Follow-up studies on placento-fetal transfusion White cells - effects on circulation especially in relation to activated white cells. Methods of assessing and the measurement of microcirculation (planned for Rhodos). Basic physiology of the microcirculation and the physiology of capillary concentration. What determines blood flow to various organs and the effect of gestation
3. Barbara Holland, Queen Mother’s Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland resigned from the post of the secretary of the working group. Heike Rabe, Universitäts-Kinderklinik, Münster, Germany was elected as a successor for a three year term. Any member of the ESPR interested in the above topics is invited to join the working group.

6 October 1998/ Dr Heike Rabe, Universitäts-Kinderklinik, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 33, D-48129 Münster, Germany