Londra (UK)  16 Giugno 2013
Gallery [1]

Cavernoma Alliiance UK [2] held its Seventh International Forum at the Grange Holborn Hotel [3] on the 16 June 2013 with a record attendance of 147 participants, many affected by cavernomas of the brain and spine.

CA UK had organised a star-studded line-up of speakers.
Professor Rustam Al-Shahi Salman spoke about the importance of establishing a cavernoma clinical trial.
Professor Dr Helmut Bertalanffy [4] gave an exceptional talk entitled "Management of Cavernous Malformations of the Brain and Spinal Cord: Well-established and New Concepts".

After coffee, the CA UK Forum broke into six discussion groups, this year dealing with the psychological impact of a cavernoma, living with a cavernoma, living with someone with a cavernoma, cavernoma and surgery, incidental and asymptomatic cavernoma and spinal cavernoma.  The latter discussion group was well attended in a year dubbed as the year of the spinal cavernoma.  With Professor Bertalanffy's talk including his experience of spinal cavernoma and a workshop on the subject, members with spinal cavernoma were well-informed.

In the afternoon a talk by Dr Gordon Plant, a neurologist with a specialism in neuro-ophthamology, Dr Plant gave a fascinating insight into some of the symptoms such as (double vision), that is a predominant feature of various cavernoma.

After a brief break CA UK was lucky enough to have Sacha Bonsor [5], author of Dipped into Oblivion [6], her documented journey of a brainstem cavernoma removal by Dr Robert Spetzler in Arizona join us in a discussion led by Emily Fletcher, a member and now a trustee of the Alliance.

An Annual General Meeting followed which duly elected Professor David C S White CBE as chair of the trustee board.

Additional Links:

• How to survive a brain haemorrhage – twice [7] | by Sacha Bonsor
• How to survive a brain haemorrhage – twice [8] | The Times
• My 'brain tumours' were abnormal blood vessels [9] | Echo-news
• Helmut Bertalanffy – The Art of Brain Surgery [10]
• CCM Breakthrough [11]
• The Big Lottery Fund (Reaching Communities) [12]
• DORCHESTER: Big Lottery money will help charity continue vital work [13]
• Ian Stuart, Cavernoma Alliance UK Founder and Co-ordinator [14]