Report of the 6th Iranian International Headache Congress
The 6th Iranian International Headache Congress was successfully convened by the Iranian Headache Association from Wednesday 16 Oct to Friday 18 Oct 2019 in Isfahan, Iran.
The congress was supported by the Iranian Neurological Association under the auspicious of the International Headache Society.
Participants in the congress included 450 physicians and researchers from all over Iran. Our distinguished invited speakers were Prof. Jes Olesen from Denmark and Dr. Hossein Ansari from the USA as IHS visiting professors, Prof. Messoud Ashina, from Denmark, and Prof Sait Ashina from the USA who delivered their lectures via video conferencing, and Dr. Parvin Allahyarova from Azerbaijan.
This scientific meeting provided updated information on most primary and some secondary headache disorders through various lectures and workshops. During this international meeting, attendees also had an excellent opportunity to communicate with well-known national and international scientists in the field of headache.
An interesting characteristic of this congress was that the abstracts of lectures were available online on our website from the first day of the congress. Also, hard copies of the abstracts were freely available to all participants upon registration.
Several scientific programs were held during the three days of the congress. The programs were divided into the following four categories:
- Main lectures
The following topics were covered by our international speakers:
Prof. J. Olesen
- Migraine aura and mimics
- Headache attributed to traumatic brain injury
Prof. H. Ansari
- Facial Pain: Diagnostic Considerations and Role of Neuroimaging
Prof. M. Ashina
- Video conference: Targeting downstream mechanisms in migraine
Prof S. Ashina
- Video conference: What we know about CGRP in headache
Dr. P. Allahyarova
- Presentation of two interesting cases
Thirty-nine Iranian speakers also presented lectures on a variety of headache and pain disorders. Among them we highlight the following topics:
Prof. M. Togha
- Update on management of cluster headache
Prof. M Saadatnia
- Headache attributed to vascular disease
Dr. F Khorvash
- Medication overuse Headache: Is it an addiction?
Prof M. Forughipoor
- Acute treatment of migraine headache
Dr. Soltani
- Drug interactions in migraine treatment
Dr. S. Razeghi Jahromi
- Non-medical therapies of headache
Dr. F Assarzadegan
- Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome
Dr. E. Mohammadianinejad
- Treatment of Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgias (TACs) other than cluster
Dr. M.H. Paknejad
- Epidemiology and burden of headache disorders
Dr. MR. Gheini
- Neuroimaging in headache disorders: When to do and when not to do
Dr. N Yamani
- Migraine with brainstem aura: defining the core syndrome
Dr. S Haghighi
- Evaluation and management of headache in emergency department
Dr. A Taghiloo
- Trigeminal neuralgia: MR imaging features
Prof. M Barkatain
- Headaches and behavior: what do brain networks tell us?
Dr J Mehvari and Dr. N Tabrizi
- Headache and Epilepsy
In addition, a number of lectures on pain, neuro-stimulation techniques and various types of nerve blocks and pain injections were presented by Iranian neurologists. Fifteen lectures on different headache topics were also delivered by young researchers during the congress.
- Workshops
In this section, three workshops were offered. Botulinum toxin injection for chronic migraine was taught in the first workshop and in the second and third workshops mainly younger neurologists were trained on techniques of nerve blockade in headache disorders and neurosonology in headache. These workshops were expertly moderated by Prof. M Togha, Dr. H. Ansari, Dr. B Zamani, Prof. M Saadatnia and Dr. N Yamani.
- Panel
Three panel discussions took place during the congress which explored management of trigeminal neuralgia, idiopathic intracranial hypertension; challenges in diagnosis and treatment and Giant cell arteritis (GCA).
- Scientific Competition for Residents
Dr. S Haghighi, Dr. H Hemasian and Dr. P Emami conducted a competition with two runs in which 36 neurology residents from different medical universities of Iran participated. First, second and third place winners received valuable prizes.
Early feedback from our international guests and participants was impressive and positive commending the well-organized congress and highly interactive lectures. The venue of the congress was also complemented as being accessible and easy to find. The conference hall, situated in one of the renowned hotels in Isfahan, was complemented for its excellence by interviewed participants.
This headache congress was unquestionably able to play an important role in promoting the level of knowledge in the fields of headache and pain in Iran.
Indeed, the attendance of distinguished international headache specialists with the cooperation of the International Headache Society and communication between them and esteemed Iranian neurologists and active participants from all over Iran in response to the invitation of the Iranian Headache Association has paved the way to establish a good link between the Iranian Headache Association and the International Headache Society. Future collaboration will surely help the advancement of the headache field in Iran and even within our geographical region.
Figure
Mansoureh Togha,
Professor of Neurology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences
President of the 6th Iranian International Headache
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