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Original Neurosciences and History 2013; 1(2):64-70

Received: 14 August 2012 / Accepted: 3 December 2012© 2013 Sociedad Española de Neurología

e Catalan Society of Neurology: an overview of its recent history(1973-2007)

A. Arboix1, L. Soler2, N. Fabregat3

1 Cerebrovascular Disease Unit. Department of Neurology. Capio-Hospital Universitari del Sagrat Cor. Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.Former President of the Catalan Society of Neurology (2010-2012).Coordinator and co-editor of: Història de la neurologia catalana. Catalan Society of Neurology. CPM Asociados SL (ed), Barcelona, 2011.

2 Department of Neurology. Capio-Hospital General de Catalunya. Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.3 Department of Neurology. Clínica Platón. Barcelona, Spain.

ABSTRACT

Introduction. is article analyses the activities of the Catalan Society of Neurology (Societat Catalana de Neuro-logia, SCN) during the 35-year period beginning in 1973. Development. Our literature search draws from the minutes of the monthly meetings of the Catalan Society of Neuro-logy and original historical sources found in the Library of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia and theBalearic Islands, Barcelona (ACMCB in Catalan). e SCN was founded in 1973 by Dr A. Codina as a society thatsubstituted the ACMCB Association of Neurological Sciences (1968-1973). at organisation in turn replaced theACMCB Association of Psychiatry and Neurology (1941-1968), which was constituted aer the Spanish Civil War tofill the gap le by the disappearance of the Catalan Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (1931/34-1939). e lattername ("more up-to-date", according to the first president, Dr Belarmino Rodríguez Arias, and in Catalan rather thanCastilian) was given to what was originally the Barcelona Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (1911-1931/34) duringthe Second Spanish Republic. We have divided the recent history of the SCN, the direct descendant of the originalBarcelona Society of Psychiatry and Neurology, into three periods spanning approximately 10 years each. roughoutthis these 35 years, during which there have been 16 presidents, the Society prioritised continuing education in neuro-logy, mainly through offering refresher courses and presenting clinical pathology cases. Conclusions. e SCN's contemporary period began in 1973 under the presidency of Dr A. Codina. e Society'smain educational activities during this time period included providing continuing education in neurology andpresenting clinical pathology cases.

KEYWORDSCatalan Society of Neurology, continuing education, history of the neurological sciences, history, neurology,teaching.

We present a review of the most recent, modern periodin the history of the Catalan Society of Neurology (Soci-etat Catalana de Neurologia, SCN): the 35 years between1973 and 2007.

e SCN is the direct descendent of the first neurologicalsociety in Catalonia, the Barcelona Society of Psychiatryand Neurology, founded by Artur Galceran i Granés in1911.1,2 In the hundred years that have passed since then,the society has been renamed five times: BarcelonaSociety of Psychiatry and Neurology; Catalan Society of

Corresponding author: Dr Adrià Arboix. Cerebrovascular Disease Unit. Department of Neurology. Capio-Hospital Universitari del Sagrat Cor.

c/Viladomat 288. 08029 Barcelona. Spain.Telephone: (+34) 934948940; Fax (+34) 934948906.

“La historia es una interrogación interpretativa de la natu-raleza. Forma parte de la investigación misma: constituyesu fase inicial”

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934).

"Only barbarians are not curious about where they comefrom, how they came to be where they are, where theyappear to be going, whether they wish to go there, andif so, why, and if not, why not" Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997).

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Psychiatry and Neurology;Association of Psychiatry andNeurology; Association of theNeurological Sciences; and theCatalan Society of Neurology,which may be written in eitherCatalan or Castilian. OurSociety's modern or contempo-rary period began in 1973 withDr Agustí Codina (Figure 1) aspresident.

Development

Our methodology consisted of viewing and analysingcontent from the different academic activities carried outby the Society by studying the minutes of SCN meetings,typically held monthly, during the time period in ques-tion. We have also examined original historical sourcesfrom the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia andthe Balearic Islands, Barcelona (ACMCB in Catalan).roughout our research we have noted down thecontributions and focus of each of the Society's presi-dents in order to highlight the SCN's main academic,teaching, and social events during the 35-year periodbeing examined.

1. Historical precedents

Few people are aware of the early neurological societiesin Catalonia. The first, founded in 1911 by Dr ArturGalceran i Granés, was named Barcelona Society ofPsychiatry and Neurology (in Castilian, Sociedad dePsiquiatría y Neurología de Barcelona).1 In 1915, DrMartí i Julià (1860-1917) succeeded him as president.In 1934, the society was renamed Catalan Society ofPsychiatry and Neurology (in Catalan, Societat Catalanade Psiquiatria i Neurologia). Dr Belarmino RodríguezArias was its first president; the society was dissolvedwhen the Spanish Civil War began.3-8 In 1941, thesociety was reinstated as the Neurology and PsychiatryAssociation (in Castilian) under Dr José CórdobaRodríguez; in 1968, it became the Association of theNeurological Sciences with Dr Lluís Barraquer Bordasas its president.6 It was not until 1973 that it would adoptits fifth and current name: the Catalan Society ofNeurology (Societat Catalana de Neurologia, inCatalan) (Figure 2). Its first president was Dr AgustíCodina Puiggròs. Due to their proximity to France, thefirst Catalan neurological societies were influencedconsiderably by the French schools of neurology.9

2. e SCN's three periods

e contemporary history of the Catalan Society ofNeurology can be divided into three periods. First of all,we have its formative years (1973-1976), with Dr AgustíCodina Puiggròs as president, plus the following ten-yearperiod up to 1986 for a total of 14 years; secondly, theperiod from 1986 to 1996; and the most recent period,from 1996 to 2007.

During these 35 years, the SCN has had a total of 16 pres-idents (Table 1) and 71 of its members have served on itsBoard of Directors. In addition, and as of 2012, the SCNhas also welcomed 15 Honorary Members (Table 2) andawarded 10 other members with the prize for excellencein their careers (Table 3). ese titles and prizes are thefoundation of the SCN’s prestige.

Figure 1. Dr. AgustíCodina was president ofthe SCN in 1973.

Figure 2. Text dating from 1973 that approved changing the society’sname to Sociedad Catalana de Neurología. Dr Codina was President andDr Martí-Vilalta, secretary.

Table 1. Presidents of the SCN between 1973 and 2007.

Table 2. Honorary Members of the SCN (1973-2012).

Agustí CodinaAdolf Pou SerradellJaume Peres SerraRomà Massot Josep Lluís Martí-VilaltaManel Roig QuilisMiquel AguilarLluís Soler Singla

Feliu TitusNolasc AcarínJordi PascualSecundino López PousaMercè BoadaRafael BlesaJaume Coll CantíFrancisco Rubio

Josep Maria Aragonés* Lluís Barraquer-Bordas* Agustí Codina Puiggròs Emilio Fernández-Alvarez Josep Maria Grau Veciana Vladimir HachinskiJ Kimura Romà Massot

Lluís MontserratJoan ObachCarlos Oliveras de la Riva* Jaume Peres SerraAdolf PouC RozmanFeliu Titus*

[*] Deceased

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First period (1973-1986)

e SCN's presidents during its first developmentalperiod were as follows: Agustí Codina (1973-1976), AdolfPou (1976-1978), Jaume Peres (1978-1980), Romà Massot(1981-1982), Josep Lluís Martí-Vilalta (1982-1984), andManel Roig (1984-1986).

Two activities were successfully launched during thisperiod: interdisciplinary meetings and clinical pathologysessions. ese events were held in the ACMCB buildingin Paseo de la Bonanova, Barcelona.

e society established ties with the Catalan RegionalMinistry of Health in order to defend our specialty. It alsobegan the process of transforming Revista de Neurologíainto the SCN's main journal for its publications, and wasthe first regional neurological society to accomplish thatgoal (Figure 3).

One important event of the 1984-1985 academic year wasthat SCN members initially voted against the creation ofa Catalan society of clinical neurophysiology. ecreation of such a society was backed by the president ofthe Academy of Medical Sciences, Dr Marius Foz,following a petition by a steering committee of clinicalneurophysiologists. Other important events during thistime period were as follows:

• During the 1982-1983 academic year, Dr J.P. Mohr ofNew York visited to present a lecture on cerebralinfarcts of unknown causes.

• e first regular sessions on neuromuscular disorderswere organised during the 1985-1986 academic year.

• On 10 May 1986, members celebrated the 1st Confer-ence of the Catalan Society of Neurology. e DirectorGeneral of the Catalan Institute of Health, Dr. XavierTrias i Vidal de Llobatera, served as its honorary pres-ident. e conference was also attended by prestigiousspeakers, including Prof. V. Caviness from the Depart-ment of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital(Massachusetts, USA) and Dr C. Dravet from CentreHospitalier Saint-Paul (Marseille, France).

Second period (1986-1996)

Presidents during the SCN's second developmentalperiod were as follows: Miquel Aguilar (1986-1988), LluísSoler Singla (1988-1990), Feliu Titus (1990-1992), NolascAcarín (1992-1994), and Jordi Pascual (1994-1996).

During the 1986-1987 academic year, the SCN scholar-ship, which would later be known as the SCN-FundaciónUriach scholarship, was established for the purpose ofpromoting research projects in the field of neurology.

e society continued to hold its regular monthly activi-ties of presenting topics in interdisciplinary continuingeducation (the first ursday of every month) and clinicalpathology cases (the third ursday of every month).

Another important breakthrough in the defence ofneurology was achieved thanks to the SCN's insistencethat the specialties of neurology and psychiatry be recog-nised as different parallel services by the Catalan RegionalMinistry of Health. At the time, the Catalan publicprimary care system still used the term 'neuropsychiatry'to refer to both specialties indiscriminately. e societyalso advocated the creation of new hospital positions inneurology. During the 1986-1987 academic year, severalimportant events took place:

Table 3. Winners of the SCN Prize for excellence in their professionalcareers (1973-2012).

Figure 3. Revista de Neurología was the first journal used by the SCN topublish its news and events.

Jaume Peres Serra Agustí Codina Adolf PouIsabel Illa Francesc Graus

Josep Maria Grau Veciana Carles CerveraMiquel BalcellsFeliu TitusJosep Lluís Martí-Vilalta

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• e SCN participated in the 50th anniversary celebra-tion of the Barcelona Neurological Institute.

• Celebration of the 5th Meeting of the Catalan Societyof Electromyography (March 1987) with the participa-tion of Prof. J. Kimura of the University of Iowa (Iowa,USA).

• Celebration of the 1st Refresher Seminar in Neurologyin May 1987. e seminar covered neuro-ophthal-mology, epilepsy, and neurological manifestations ofAIDS. e seminar met with considerable success boththat year and in those that followed; in fact, the SCNcontinues to organise that prestigious seminar on ayearly basis.

• e 6th Paediatric Neurology symposium held atHospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona.

• Preparation of the first "Proposal for the organisationof neurological care in Catalonia, 1987". e documentwas coordinated by Dr M. Aguilar, submitted to theCatalan Regional Ministry of Health, and published inRevista de Neurología.10

• e SCN was granted attendance and voting rights onthe committees that award hospital positions tosuccessful candidates in our specialty.

• First visits to Spain by Dr Julio H. García (Alabama,USA) and Dr Vladimir Hatchinski (Ontario, Canada).ese two eminent figures presented lectures at the 2ndSCN Seminar, held from 29 to 30 April 1988 inTarragona. One result of that scientific meeting was thepublication of Avances y controversias en el diagnósticoy en el tratamiento de la patología vascular cerebralisquémica [Breakthroughs and controversies in thediagnosis and treatment of ischaemic cerebrovasculardisease] (Figure 4).11 is monograph had a highimpact factor, and Professor José Biller of the UnitedStates, who reviewed it for Archives of Neurology in1991, stated “...any clinician who regularly takes care ofpatients with stroke will find this volume helpful andinformative”.12

• A commission was formed to dra the SCN Statutes,which were passed in 1989. e society was then listedin the Barcelona Register of Associations on 26 March1990.

• e board formally approved Revista de Neurología asthe journal in which the SCN would publish its clinicalpathology sessions, lecture summaries, and other arti-cles related to the society's medical events.

• e society organised an extraordinary session titled"Motor neuron diseases: spinal amyotrophies andamyotrophic lateral sclerosis" from 19 to 20 March1988 with the participation of Professor T.L. Munsat,Boston (Massachussetts, USA). Another significantevent was the lecture given by Professor J. Aicardi on22 March 1988, "Clinical heterogeneity of gangliosi-dosis".

• e 3rd SCN Seminar, held from 11 to 12 May 1990 inPlatja d'Aro, Girona province, and addressing the topicof "Breakthroughs in epilepsy" was attended by M.Baldy Moulinier (Montpellier, France), C. Munari(Paris, France), and J.M. Saint-Hilaire (Montreal,Canada).

• e SCN's Neurosonology Symposium took place on9 November 1989. Participants included Professor P.Arbeille (Tours, France) and Dr. V. Demarin (Zagreb,Croatia).

• In 1990 the SCN updated the conditions of its yearlyscholarship by changing its name to the SCN-FundacióUriach scholarship and increasing its amount to 1 000 000pesetas.

• e SCN began presenting post-graduate courses incooperation with Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Figure 4. e SCN edited Avances y controversias en el diagnóstico y en eltratamiento de la patología vascular cerebral isquémica in 1989.

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• A joint session of the SCN, held in Hospital Clínic on 24January 1991, addressed the treatment of focal dystoniaswith botulinum toxin. Professor M. Brinn of ColumbiaUniversity (New York, USA), participated in the session.

• e decision was made to hold the 4th SCN Seminar(1992) in Andorra. e 1st Congress of the SCN, whichfocused on the clinical aspects of neurovirology, wasalso held that year. Dr Richard Price of the Universityof Minnesota (Minneapolis, USA) attended as a distin-guished speaker.

• e 7th Neurology Refresher Seminar, held from 21 to23 April 1993, addressed the topics of sleep disorders,multiple sclerosis, and movement disorders. ProfessorA. ompson of Queen Square Hospital (London, UK)attended as a distinguished speaker.

• e 2nd Congress of the SCN was organised as a jointmeeting with the Balearic Society of Neurology andheld in Ibiza from 21 to 23 September, 1995.

ird period (1996-2007)

Presidents of the SCN during its third developmentalperiod were as follows: Secundino López-Pousa (1996-2000), Mercè Boada (2000-2002), Rafael Blesa (2002-2004),Jaume Coll (2004-2006), and Francisco Rubio (2006-2007).

Butlletí, created as a newsletter to inform members of theevents and activities organised by the SCN, first appearedin 1996.13 e society edited 14 printed issues of Butlletí,the last of which appeared in 2000 as a special issuereporting on the publication of the SNC's treatmentguidelines for epilepsy (Guía terapéutica sobre eltratamiento de las epilepsias).13

e society continued to hold successful clinicalpathology sessions, monthly interdisciplinary lectures,and the refresher seminar in neurology, which celebratedits tenth anniversary in 1996.

In 1997 with Dr Jaume Coll as president, the SCNlaunched its website. A year later, maintaining the websitewas declared one of the society's priority activities.

e same year, the SCN reached an agreement with CésarViguera, the editor of Revista de Neurología, in order topublish summaries of presentations given in the SCNannual meeting in that journal.

e Foundation of the SCN was also created in 1997.

e society's first expert committee on cerebrovasculardiseases, coordinated by Dr Josep Lluís Martí-Vilalta, met

in Hospital de Sant Pau on 10 October 1997. ese meet-ings, which rotate between different locations and areheld monthly, continue to this day. Seven Catalan hospi-tals participated in the initial meeting: Sant Pau, SagratCor, Hospital General de Catalunya, Vall d’Hebron,Clínic, Josep Trueta, and Hospital del Mar (Figure 5).

e Society rented an office for the SCN Foundation atSicilia 236 bis 1-3 in Barcelona in 1998. Eduard Rius i Pey,the Regional Minister of Health, inaugurated the Foun-dation's office in a ceremony held on 17 February 1999(Figure 6).

e SCN's first series of treatment guidelines appeared in1999; they were endorsed by the Regional Government'sdivision of pharmaceutical care and complementarybenefits. ese treatment guidelines covered thefollowing four neurological diseases: epilepsy, cerebrovas-cular diseases, Parkinson's disease, and dementia.

Figure 5. Programme from the initial meetings of the SCN Expert Panelon Cerebrovascular Diseases held during the 1997-1998 academic year.Seven Catalan hospitals participated in the first session, and the event hasbeen held ever since with no interruptions.

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e Catalan Society of Neurophysiology sued the CatalanRegional Ministry of Health in 1998 based on their alle-gation that neurophysiologists are the only specialiststrained to carry out neurophysiological tests. In anextraordinary meeting held in May 1998, the SCN draeda statement affirming that neurologists, like cardiologists,may also be qualified to perform complementary exami-nations. In this process, the Society was advised by DrIsabel Illa and Dr Joan Santamaria, both expert clinicalneurologists internationally recognised for their knowl-edge of electromyography and polysomnography, respec-tively. is document was then sent to health authoritiesand to the directors and administrators of different hospi-tals in Catalonia and published in the ACMCB's Butlletí.

e SCN website gradually became a frequently-usedresource; in 2001, it was visited by some 14 000 peoplemonthly, and as a result, a total of more than 100 000entries were added to the website.

Other important milestones during this time were asfollows:

• e SCN confirmed its capacity to endorse desirablescientific and teaching activities requesting support.

• In 2002, the company Suport Serveis S.L. took chargeof the SCN's administrative office, which was movedfrom its registered address in calle Sicilia.

• For the first time, the best two presentations given atthe SCN's annual meeting were awarded prizes (grandprize and an honourable mention).

• e SCN congratulated Dr Lluís Barraquer Bordas onbeing awarded a doctor honoris causa by UniversitatRovira Virgili, Reus, Spain.

• Professor J. Kimura, president of the World Federationof Neurology, presented a lecture at the 8th Meeting ofthe SCN in Andorra on 26 March 2004. He was namedan honorary member of the society.

• Representatives of the SCN were invited to participateon the boards awarding public hospital placements tosuccessful candidates in the field of neurology.

• In 2004, new regulations for the code of ethics and bestpractices in the pharmaceutical industry became effec-tive. ese changes, concretely two new regulationsaffecting all medical societies, had an impact on howmedical meetings and conferences are organised. Sincethat time, a) SCN members have not been allowed tobring guests to conferences and b) the SCN may notorganise or finance any 'recreational activities' duringthe scientific conference itself.

• In 2004, the Spanish Society of Neurology under Dr J.Matías-Guiu organised a meeting for presidents ofregional neurology societies. is resulted in the creationof the Spanish Federation of Regional Neurology Soci-eties, a body coordinated by the president of the SEN.Dr J. Coll submitted the SCN's proposal, which wassuccessful, and beginning in 2005, the society was amember of the federation named above.

• As mentioned before, the SCN's annual meeting rotatesfrom city to city in Catalonia in order to promoteneurology in areas in which the specialty may not be aswell-developed. With this in mind, the annual meetingwas held in Lloret de Mar (Girona province) in 2005; inVandellòs (Tarragona province) in 2006; and in Lleida(Lleida province) in 2007. Holding annual meetings indifferent locations is one of the key activities character-ising this period in the SCN's development.

• e year 2006 saw the creation of a new electronicnewsletter, named Neurologia Catalana and edited by DrA. Gironell, which is still distributed today. e newslettercontains a section called El rincón del residente (the resi-dent's corner) that maintains the tradition of presentingand discussing clinical pathology cases, this time inwritten format, among neurological residents studying atdifferent university hospitals in Catalonia.

• In 2006, the IT department at ACMCB took over themanagement of the SCN's webpage.14 Its new addressis www.scn.cat.

Figure 6. Dr Rius, the Catalan Regional Minister of Health, greets Dr Barraquer Bordas in the company of SCN president Dr López Pousaat the inauguration of the SCN’s new administrative office in Barcelona,17 February 1999.

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Conclusions

e SCN's contemporary period began in 1973 with DrA. Codina serving as president.15,16 Since then, offeringcontinuing education in neurology and presenting clin-ical pathology cases have been the society's mostfrequent, highly valued, and typical teaching activities. Inits years between 1976 and 2007, the SCN has evolved tobecome a modern, competitive, and flexible neurologicalsociety that provides its members with a forum in whichto teach and receive continuing education.

Conflicts of interest

e authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Maria José Sánchez, the librarianat Capio-Hospital Universitari del Sagrat Cor, Barcelona,for her invaluable assistance with our search for texts andimages.

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