Fifth Baltic Nephrology Conference jointly organized by the Baltic Societies of Nephrology and the Joint Action Nephrology in Eastern Europe, a collaborative effort of ISN and ERA

On behalf of the organizers

Merike Luman and Eberhard Ritz

President of Estonian Society of Nephrology on behalf of Joint Action Nephrology Eastern Europe (ISN and ERA)

On 30 June and 1–2 July 2000, the Fifth Baltic Nephrology Conference took place in the Meeting Center of the Hotel Central in Tallinn in Estonia. It had been jointly organized by the Estonian Society of Nephrology on behalf of the three Baltic Societies of Nephrology in collaboration with Eberhard Ritz (chairing the Joint Action Nephrology in Eastern Europe).

The meeting was attended by 70 Baltic nephrologists and 100 colleagues from related disciplines, particularly internal medicine, cardiology, rheumatology, and endocrinology.

Internationally known speakers gave an overview on topics at the forefront of current basic clinical nephrology. This included progression of renal failure—from basic mechanisms to clinical management by G. Wolf (Hamburg), blood pressure on dialysis by Bernard Charra (Tassin), sympathetic nerve system and hypertension in renal disease by Hein A. Koomans (Utrecht), hypertension after renal transplantation by Douglas Briggs (Glasgow), endothelin and renal disease by Stefan R. Orth (Heidelberg), and the calcium-channel blocker controversy by Pietro Zucchelli (Bologna).

Interactive sessions included a discussion of clinical problems in hypertension and a round table on blood-pressure management in renal patients jointly moderated by Mai Ots, Margus Viigimaa, and Eberhard Ritz.

On the second day, the topics included diabetic nephropathy (Eberhard Ritz), renal involvement in SLE (Claudio Ponticelli, Milano), advances in immunosuppression after renal transplantation (J. Grinyo, Barcelona), malignancy after renal transplantation (A. M. Davison, Leeds), and a brilliant morphology workshop (jointly organized by J. J. Weening, Amsterdam and K. M. Assmann, Nijmegen).

The last day was devoted to presentations on the epidemiology of renal disease in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and the discussion of the demographic and epidemiological findings in Baltic countries against the background of European experience by Francesco Locatelli.

The strenuous academic meetings were complemented by an unforgettable evening with concertos and a banquet at the Blackhead Brotherhood's House in the old town of Tallinn on Friday, 30 June, and a conference dinner at the picturesque Maarjamäe Castle on Saturday, 1 July.

This Fifth Conference follows the previous immensely successful conferences in Jurmala, close to Riga (23–24 October, 1992), in Tartu (3–6 June, 1995), in Kaunas (17–18 May, 1996) and in Riga (12–14 June, 1998). These conferences with internationally known and distinguished invited speakers were attended by an impressively large audience and have become a highly successful tradition, which should be continued. It is the opinion of the organizers that this show of academic solidarity between the International and European renal organizations and our Baltic colleagues has significantly contributed to the very impressive upsurge of renal care, as documented by the epidemiological analyses, and the increasingly sophisticated academic levels of nephrological performance in these countries.

It is hoped that we can say/ Tere tulemast kahe aasta pärast uuesti (Welcome in two years again).





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