19 February 2019
The Welsh Rheumatology Society meeting takes place from 28-29 March at Gregynog Hall this year. Several meetings will run in parallel with allied agendas for both medical and non-medical MDTs. The full programme includes Specialist Training Committee, Special Advisory Group and Allied Health Professional meetings over the course of Thursday and Friday and will offer members keynote presentations from Professor Catherine Nelson Piercy; Consultant Obstetric Physician, Dr Stefan Siebert; Consultant Rheumatologist and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Immunology and Rheumatology and Dr Sian Lewis; Managing Director of Welsh Health Specialised Services.
Dr Stefan Siebert will be giving an update on spondyloarthritis, highlighting some of the exciting advances in treatment for patients with these conditions. In presenting his findings in Tackling Extra Articular Manifestations in SpA “I will also focus on why some treatments have not worked as expected and how these targeted therapies are teaching us about the underlying immunology of these conditions and the dominant cytokines in various affected tissues.”
Professor Catherine Nelson Piercy specialises in the care of women with medical problems in pregnancy and runs special joint clinics for women with renal disease, cardiac and rheumatic disorders, hypertension and epilepsy in pregnancy. Speaking before her attendance at the All Wales Meeting, Professor Catherine Nelson Piercy discussed the importance of seeking specialist advice and controlling the inflammatory disease before and during pregnancy to give the best chance of a successful pregnancy, “There are many medications that can safely be used in pregnancy and advising women to stop them is usually not appropriate.” Professor Catherine will present her Pregnancy and Inflammatory Arthritis keynote on Thursday 28 March.
Our Wales Regional Chairperson, Dr Zoe McLaren, said, “I look forward to our visit to Gregynog every year to swap case studies, collaborate and celebrate our achievements together. In 2018, we presented the first ever Dr Margaret O’Sullivan Prize to Specialist Registrar Dr Ruth Davies and look forward to continuing this new tradition in 2019. This year will be my or penultimate as Wales Regional Chairperson for the British Society for Rheumatology. I would like to offer a huge thanks to UCB for sponsoring our event and to Jayne Evans from Hywel Dda for organising this year’s meeting.”
To confirm your attendance and accommodation needs, please contact Jayne Evans or our Chairperson in Wales, Dr Zoe McLaren. Our Devolved Nations Liaison Officer, Lauren Bennie will be attending and looks forward to meeting our Welsh members at Gregynog Hall next month.
Image: Former BSR President Dr Peter Lanyon presenting the Dr Margaret O'Sullivan prize to its first ever winner - Dr Ruth Davies (Specialist Registrar, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board) - at the annual Cymdeithas Rhewmatoleg Cymru (Welsh Rheumatology Society) meeting, held at Gregynog Hall in March 2018. Congratulations to Dr Ruth for an excellent presentation outlining the case of a young man with ankle synovitis, rashes and raised serum ACE - found to have leprosy rather than sarcoidosis as originally suspected. Llongyfarchiadau!