BrainH2O Symposium
To manage intracranial pressure in pathology, we must understand brain fluid dynamics in physiology
16-18 August 2021
Copenhagen, Denmark
With this BrainH2O symposium we aim to promote knowledge sharing and networking amongst neurosurgeons, neurologists, and (experimental/modelling) neuroscientists with focus on brain fluid dynamics in order to enhance our knowledge of the basic mechanisms governing brain water dynamics and their failures in pathology: A first requirement for targeted therapy of brain pathologies involving disturbed brain water balance.
See the program here
Our fragile brain tissue is surrounded by a cranium and submerged in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which together serve to protect the brain from mechanical insult. However, in pathologies such as hydrocephalus and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), excess fluid accumulates in the brain. As our skull cannot expand with increased brain volume, the intracranial pressure (ICP) increases as a consequence, thus compressing brain tissue and blood vessels.
Such brain fluid accumulation is considered a vast clinical challenge. Treatment options are limited to surgical procedures, which are entirely symptomatic, highly invasive and exclusively based on a traditional mechanical perception of the brain's fluid dynamics, which fail to consider the molecular water transport mechanisms.
To control the brain fluid dynamics in pathophysiology, it is imperative to understand the mechanisms governing the secretion, movement, and drainage of CSF in health and disease. The field of brain fluid homeostasis is in its infancy. To close this knowledge gap, we consider enhanced interaction between clinicians attending patients with elevated ICP and basic scientists with expertise in fluid and solute movement in the brain (or modeling thereof) an absolute must.
The conference will aim to bridge the topics of CSF dynamics and clinical management of elevated ICP with two diseases as ‘the models’; Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH).
Read more and register here
Conference participant: 100 EURO
Speaker: Free of charge
PhD student (in Denmark): Covered by the PhD school (please remember to register through the course catalogue)
Registration includes: Conference attendance, lunch, coffee, and welcome reception.