More than 400 neurologists and neurosurgeons, scientific researchers, university lecturers, consultants, specialists and resident doctors from 25 countries, including Romania, are taking part in the 23rd Congress of the Academy for Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatology, taking place in Istanbul over three days starting on Thursday.

The event is organised by the Academy for Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatology in partnership with the Society for the Study of Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity and the RoNeuro Institute in Cluj Napoca, under the auspices of the World Federation of Neurology, the World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation and the European Federation of NeuroRehabilitation Societies.

Specialists attending the congress come from the United States, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Italy, Serbia and Romania.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Thursday, the event will address brain protection and recovery following neurotrauma, clinical intelligence and therapeutic decision-making in polytrauma, acute complications and critical management of neurotrauma patients, diffuse axonal injuries and their cognitive and behavioural implications, early neurorehabilitation, the neuropsychiatric consequences of neurotrauma, translational research and innovative therapies.

The event will open on Thursday with an international course dedicated to acute and chronic stress, delivered by German specialist Max Hilz.

'Contemporary neurotraumatology can no longer be approached exclusively from the perspective of acute intervention. Today, we are talking about integrated medicine, in which neuroprotection, early neurorehabilitation, translational research and the management of neuropsychiatric complications must function within a coherent therapeutic continuum focused on functional recovery and the patient's quality of life, and the congress reflects precisely this multidisciplinary vision of the future of clinical neuroscience,' said Dafin Muresanu, president of the Society for the Study of Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity, who also heads the European Federation of NeuroRehabilitation Societies.

The role of neuroprotection in brain trauma, the impact of blood-brain barrier integrity in neurotrauma, the use of exosomes as diagnostic and therapeutic tools, post-traumatic neuroendocrinology, the management of cognitive and psychiatric complications following traumatic brain injury (TBI), the impact of neurotrauma on quality of life and long-term functional recovery are also among the topics to be discussed.

Interactive sessions are scheduled on healthcare system priorities in countries with limited resources, addressing the balance between advanced technologies and accessible standardised interventions in neurotrauma management.

Special emphasis will be placed on the concept of early neurorehabilitation and its integration into the therapeutic pathway of neurotrauma patients, as well as the development of international networks of young specialists in neuroscience and neurorehabilitation.

The programme will also include discussions on healthcare policies and regional and international initiatives, alongside case studies specific to the multidisciplinary field of neurotraumatology.

According to annual statistics, approximately 11 million people worldwide suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI), with the figure referring to hospitalised cases. Every year, more than 2.5 million people in Europe alone suffer a traumatic brain injury, of whom 1 million require hospitalisation and around 70,000 die.

In Romania, the incidence of traumatic brain injury remains above the European average of 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with more than 60,000 new cases recorded each year. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Roberto Stan; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)