The past year has been a busy one for EFSUMB culminating in a very successful 'EUROSON' meeting held in Bologna, Italy, between 15th and 19th September 2006. The meeting attracted 1,797 participants from 41 countries, and was thoroughly enjoyed by the participants because of the strength of the scientific programme, the excellent social events and of course the venue.
Several important events took place in conjunction with the meeting. Firstly a group of experts from throughout Europe met to discuss an updated version on the 2004 EFSUMB ultrasonic contrast agent guidelines. The original guidelines (which can be downloaded from the EFSUMB web-site) were published in the August 2004 edition of Ultraschall in der Medizin / European Journal of Ultrasound. It has been agreed to update the guidelines and to add additional sections on the use of contrast agents in the pancreas, the kidney, urinary reflux, trauma, and transcranial applications. The expert group will meet again in Rotterdam in January 2007 to finalise the revision.
A second meeting was that between the WFUMB Executive Council and the EFSUMB Executive Bureau, where a number of areas of common interest, particularly relating to education, were discussed. It is hoped to form a closer working relationship between the two organisations to the mutual benefit of both.
Thirdly the EFSUMB Board of Directors held their Annual meeting to receive an update on the Federation's activities and take a number of important decisions. The Board endorsed two new statements from the Safety Committee, one an update of the 'Clinical Safety Statement for Diagnostic Ultrasound' and the second the 'Statement on the use of Diagnostic Ultrasound for Producing Souvenir Images or Recordings in Pregnancy' both of which can be found on the web-site. The board also heard of the excellent progress being made by the Education Committee and of the publication of the EFSUMB Minimum Training Recommendations for Practice of Medical Ultrasound, and of further syllabi under development. We also heard of new initiatives to provide training to help individuals fulfil the recommendations, which include the preparation of DVD based material and the intention to arrange EUROSON Schools to provide targeted training.
Another important task of the Board of Directors is to choose the site for future EUROSON meetings, and this year five separate countries bid for the 2010 meeting, which was won by the Danish bid for Copenhagen. This means the venues for the next five EUROSON meetings are now decided with Leipzig, Germany in 2007, Timisoara, Romania in 2008, Edinburgh, Scotland in 2009, and Vienna, Austria in 2011 in conjunction with WFUMB.
I look forward to meeting many of the EFSUMB members at our next EUROSON meeting in Leipzig from 24th-27th October 2007.
Prof David Evans
EFSUMB President
