Third Annual Conference on Acute Medical Emergencies: the crucial first few hours

21/22 February 2000: Royal College of Physicians, London, UK

Details: Symposium Secretariat, Conference Communications International, 2 Palmerston Court, Palmerston Way, London SW8 4AJ, UK. Tel + 44 207 720 0600; fax + 44 207 720 7177; email: AME2000{at}confcomm.co.uk

Third International Symposium on Angiotensin II antagonism

28 February–2 March 2000: London, UK

Details: Hampton Medical Conferences Ltd, 127 High Street, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8HH, UK. Tel +44 (0)181 977 0011; fax +44 (0)181 977 0055; email:hmc{at}hamptonmedical.com

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention V

4–7 April 2000: London, UK

Details: Hampton Medical Conferences Ltd, 127 High Street, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8HH, UK. Tel +44 (0)181 977 0011; fax +44 (0)181 977 0055; email:hmc{at}hamptonmedical.com

23rd European Conference on Psychosomatic Research

17–21 June 2000: Oslo, Norway

Details: Congress-Conference AS - CONGREX, Thomas Heftyes gt. 2, PO Box 2694 Solli, N-0204 Oslo, Norway. Tel + 47 2256 1930; fax + 47 2256 0541; email:ecpr2000{at}congrex.no

Falk Symposia

27/28 January 2000: Chronic hepatitis: new concepts of pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment (Cologne, Germany)

18–24 February 2000: VIII Gastroenterology week (Titisee, Germany)

4–6 May 2000: Hepatology 2000 (Munich, Germany)

9/10 June 2000: Cholestasis and gallstones (Cluj Napoca, Romania)

Details: Falk Foundation eV—Congress Division, Leinenweberstr 5, PO Box 6529, D-79041 Freiburg, Germany. Tel +49 761 130340; fax +49 761 1303459; email:symposia{at}falkfoundation.de

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York

26 April 2000: 15th Annual schizophrenia conference

5/6 May 2000: 12th Annual orthopaedic trauma course. Current techniques in upper & lower extremity trauma

22–25 May 2000: 4th Annual conference. Botanical medicine in modern clinical practice

Details: Center for Continuing Education, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630 West 168th Street, Unit 39, New York, NY10032, USA. Tel + 1 212 781 5990; fax + 1 212 781 6047; email: cme{at}columbia.edu

Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA

2–4 March 2000: 26th Annual symposium: recent advances in neurosurgery

5–7 March 2000: 26th Annual symposium: What's important? What's new? Neurology/neuroimaging

Details: Neuroscience Conference Coordinator, Barrow Neurological Institute, 350 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA. Tel +1 602 406 3067; fax +1 602 406 4104; email: deskildson{at}theBNI.com

University of California, San Francisco

6/7 April 2000: 8th Symposium on clinical trials: design, methods and controversies

13–15 April 2000: 33rd Annual advances and controversies in clinical pediatrics

Details: University of California, Office of Continuing Medical Education, 1855 Folsom St, MCB Room 630, San Francisco, CA 94143-0742, USA. Tel +1 415 476 4251; fax +1 415 476 0318; email: inquire{at}ocme.ucsf.edu

Answers to questions on p 10.

1  Chronic hepatitis B or C infection and liver cirrhosis.

2  Ill-defined upper abdominal pain, weight loss and non-specific malaise. There may be features of underlying cirrhosis.

3  Liver function tests, haemoglobin. Alpha-foetoprotein is helpful if markedly elevated. Ultrasound examination. Imaging by CT or MRI for diagnosis and for staging the tumour. Histological confirmation of all tumours is controversial.

4  Surgical resection or transplantation are the two main options but are suitable for less than 20% of patients with these tumours.

5  Transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation is increasingly used in clinical practice. Other options include intra-arterial or systemic chemotherapy, percutaneous ethanol injection, cryotherapy, thermotherapy, proton or hormonal therapy, or a wide range of their combinations. The current lack of definitive data, however, limits the use of the treatments.

Answers to the questions on p 15

1  Probably women of young and middle age, reflecting the frequency of specific causes such as pregnancy, puerpurium and oral contraceptive use. 2  The extensive presence of collateral circulation explaining some of the pathophysiological differences between venous and arterial stroke. 3  Hereditary prothrombotic disorders together with or without the use of oral contraceptives. 4  Headache, papilloedema, focal deficits, seizures and impaired level of consciousness occur in one-third to three-quarters of patients. 5  MRI combined with MR venogram because it is not only very sensitive but also non-invasive. 6  Patients should receive intravenous heparin guided by close monitoring of the PTT, provided there are no general contraindications to its use. 7  There is no clear correlation between clinical presentation and outcome though rapid onset with coma and focal deficit indicate a poorer prognosis.