Neurology Update Meeting 2023 Report

Meeting Programme

• Session I - Chair: Prof. Colin Doherty

  Prof. Colin Doherty, Consultant Neurologist, St. James Hospital, chaired the first session of the meeting.

  

  

  

  Dr. Aoife Laffan, St. James’ Hospital, Dublin, delivered a lecture entitled ‘FND: The past, present & future’
  Dr. Stoyan Popkirov, University Hospital Essen, delivered an online lecture addressing ‘Functional Seizures’

• Session II - Chair: Dr. Conor Fearon

  Dr. Conor Fearon, Consultant Neurologist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, chaired the second session.

  

  

  

  Dr. Sarah Lidstone,  KITE Research INstitute, University of Toronto, presented her lecture online, entitled ‘Functional Movement Disorder’.
  Dr. Ingrid Hoeritzauer, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, lectured on the topic of ‘Other Functional Neurological Disorders’.

• Session III - Chair: Prof. Siobhán Hutchinson

  Prof. Siobhán Hutchinson, Consultant Neurologist, St. James’ Hospital, Dublin chaired the Third Session.

  

  

  

  Dr. Laura McWhirter, Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh delivered a lecture entitled ‘Functional Cognitive Disorder & Long COVID‘.
  Prof. Jon Stone, Professor of Neurology, University of Edinburgh lectured on ‘Sharing the diagnosis of FND & the assessment as treatment’.

• Session IV - Chair: Dr. Karen O'Connell

  Dr. Karen O’Connell, Consultant Neurologist at Tallaght University Hospital chaired the Fourth Session.

  

  

  

  Prof. Alan Carson, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, deleivers a lecture entitled ‘Psychiatry & Psychology for FND’.
  Dr. Glenn Nielsen, St. George’s University Hospital, London, deleivered a lecture entitled ‘Physiotherapy for FND’

• Session V - Chair: Prof. Brian Sweeney

  Prof. Brian Sweeney, Consultant Neurologist, Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, chaired the final meeting session. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Prof. Jon Stone delivered a lecture entitled “FND is not  malingering”.
  The final session of the meeting then discussed clinical cases and took questions from meeting delegates

• Functional Neurological Disorder - Dr. Aoife Laffan

  “This year’s Neurology Update Meeting took on a different format to other years, presenting a day on Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), the first of its kind in Ireland. We welcomed many delegates not only from neurological specialties but also psychiatry, psychology, general practice, nursing, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy, underscoring the important role of a multidisciplinary approach in optimizing outcomes.

  FND has been shown to be the second most common presentation to new neurology clinics and so despite some reservations within the neurology community that patients with FND would be better served solely by our colleagues in psychological medicine, these patients continue to seek our services, urging us to take responsibility to appropriately diagnose and assist in their management.

  Each lecture on the day generated much discussion and showcased the remarkable progress of this sub-speciality including our understanding of the role of multiple neural circuits in the pathomechanism of FND, which complement the previously described psychological models and offer possible neurobiological insights for symptom development.

  I sincerely hope that this year’s Neurology Update Meeting marks a significant stride towards much needed FND care in Ireland”.            – Dr. Aoife Laffan, Meeting Director