Neurocritical Care in the Middle East and Africa
By Yasser B. Abulhasan, MBChB, FRCPC, Chairman, Neurocritical Care-MENA Chapter of IPACCMS
The International Pan Arab Critical Care
Medicine Society (IPACCMS) and the Asian-
African Conference of the World Federation
of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care
Medicine (WFSICCM) conduct their annual
meeting in conjunction with the Emirates
Critical Care Conference (ECCC) around
the first weekend of April in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates. Since 2011, the Neurocritical
Care Society (NCS) has endorsed and participated in the full day
neurocritical care track discussing the latest development in the
field of neurocritical care and challenges faced by ICU physicians
caring for critically ill neurosurgical/neurological patients.
Because of this collaboration, our society was one of the first
global partners of the NCS secondary to bilateral efforts led by Dr.
Khalid Shukri, Dr. Hussain Al-Rahma and collaborators from the
IPACCMS side with NCS leadership at the time. NCS leadership
has since been invited to sit during the Neurocritical Care Middle-
East and North Africa (NCC-MENA) chapter of the IPACCMS’s
annual meeting, which takes place during the conferences’
leadership meetings.
Over the years, the neurocritical care track of the conference
has continued to grow in a steady pace by increased societal
participation, increased number of speakers and lectures,
increased track attendance and more engaged attendees discussing
challenging cases. As a milestone, the Emergency Neurological Life
Support (ENLS) course was introduced in the region as part of the
April 2016 conference. During this year’s conference (April 2018),
there were 22 presented lectures in the track covering diverse
topics that included hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke updates,
monitoring and procedures in the neuro-
ICU as well as general topics that included
imaging for non-neurologist, electrolyte
disturbances and prognostication. ENLS
was offered as a pre-conference course by
five ENLS trainers. This was the second
time ENLS took place and it is anticipated
to be part of the ECCC every year. Hats
off to Dr. Katja Wartenberg, who leads the
neurocritical care track and ENLS in the
scientific committee.
Overall, the conference was attended by
1,600 delegates between April 5-7, 2018.
Of the 211 speakers delivering 280 lectures,
43 percent were international, 25 percent
regional and 32 percent local. Speakers
came from 56 countries. Additionally, 14
workshops and courses were conducted
as part of the conference, including ENLS.
These total numbers do reflect the growth,
international nature, and multidisciplinary
teams attending the conference and care
for critically ill patients. On a lighter note,
social activities brought all together in
an informal manner with entertainment,
offline interactions and networking. A
dinner water cruise at Dubai Creek and a
visit of the seasonal Global Village were
among these recreation activities.
As the result of the NCC-MENA chapter meeting and discussions
with NCS
leadership, the
first NCS Middle
East/Africa
Regional Meeting
is planned to be
held in Dubai in
association with the
15th ECCC/14th
IPACCMS/10th Asia
Africa Conference
of the WFSICCM,
April 4-6, 2019.
The objectives
of the upcoming
meeting are to
facilitate the NCS’s
defined mission to
further promote
quality patient
care, facilitate
professional
collaboration with
our region, discuss
research ideas and
start initiatives,
introduce members
of our MENA
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