Over 2 days in November, UKIVAS, the UK & Ireland Vasculitis Study Group, teamed up in partnership with the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) to lay on an educational webinar for 500 medical delegates.
The programme ran from 10.45 to 4pm on each day. The list of speakers included just about all the top vasculitis doctors in the UK and most types of vasculitis were covered. Although the webinar was courtesy of the nephrology department of the RSM, throughout the theme was very multidisciplinary.
As we expected from a UKIVAS event, there was much emphasis on registries and databases as well as on the impact of Covid-19 on the care and treatment of vasculitis patients. Clinical trials and classification of vasculitis played a key role. Day 1 concluded with a session on Patient Perspectives, which included Vasculitis UK’s spokesperson Zoi Anastasia as well as Julie Power and Patricia Ryan from Ireland.
Day 2 had a more clinical theme, covering assessment and advances in treatment in GCA and large vessel vasculitis. This was followed by a session looking at the impact of vasculitis on different organ systems, such as kidneys, ENT and respiratory.
The final session focused on care pathways and best practice in vasculitis care, followed by paediatrics and IgA nephropathy. The webinar closed on a high note with a challenging case discussion involving four complicated cases, with an expert panel comprising large vessel vasculitis expert, Dr Maria Cid from Barcelona and nephrologist Dr Sllke Brix from Manchester, Professor David Jayne from Cambridge, Professor Mark Little from Trinity College, Dublin, Professor Ann Morgan from Leeds and Professor Alan Salama from Royal Free/UCL, London.
These two days were certainly not intended for beginners, for patients or for doctors with little knowledge of clinical vasculitis. It was a triumph for UKIVAS and a great leap forward for vasculitis medical education. We patients certainly owe a great debt to Dr Allysson Egan and Dr Steve MacAdoo, working for UKIVAS with RSM and their tecchieteam , who put this “virtual” vasculitis conference together, so professionally, in these dark days of Covid. They have set a high standard for others to follow.
John Mills
November 2020