|

November 2017 – Reports – Sleep Medicine Committee (SMC)

Published in ESRS Newsletter November 2017

ESRS Sleep Medicine Committee (SMC)

Members (2016 – 2018):

Thomas Penzel (Coordinator), Tiina Paunio (Vice-Coordinator), Johan Verbraecken (EC ANSS Representative), Erna Sif Arnardóttir (ECRN Representative), Marie-Pia d’Ortho, Colin Espie, Diego García-Borreguero, Marta Gonçalves, Lino Nobili, Dirk Pevernagie, Thomas Pollmächer, Javier Puertas, Andrea Rodenbeck

The SMC focusses on the development and recognition of Sleep Medicine as a medical subspecialty in Europe. With this focus the committee is among the most important ones for the ESRS. After the productive face-to-face meeting of the SMC in June 2017 the planned new initiatives were started to be implemented. Most important is the creation of specific task forces. One task force is on the accreditation of sleep centers. A survey will be sent to the national societies through the ANSS assessing the status on accreditation and asking for expectations. A second task force started to review and endorse clinical guidelines on sleep medicine. Members for this task force are currently recruited. The task force is coordinated by Diego Garcia-Borreguero. A third task group, together with the education committee, will follow up with UEMS to develop a European sub-specialty on sleep medicine. The forth task force by Erna Sif Arnardottir “Beyond AHI” had a meeting during the World Sleep Society congress in Prague on 8th October 2017 and collected an update of methodologies to assess severity of sleep apnea beyond the AHI. A review paper is currently prepared.

The new task forces will involve contacts to the other European medical societies involved, such as the European Respiratory Society, the European Academy of Neurology, to mention just two.

Thomas Penzel