Program

The day will be divided into four sessions each focusing on a specific anatomical region.

After breakfast and the warm welcome by the current YRS presidents, Stijn Marcelis and Flavien Grandjean, the first session targets the Suprahyoid Neck Region, and will be moderated by Laurens De Cocker (AZ Maria Middelares, Gent).

Sofie Van Cauter (Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk – UZ Leuven – UHasselt) will give a presentation on the anatomy of the suprahyoid neck region. It is an anatomically complex region, but by organizing it into different spaces based on the fascial planes and knowledge of the specific anatomical structures, the ‘space-specific’ system contributes to an appropriate diagnosis.

Next Chiara Mabiglia (Hôpital Universitair Erasme, Brussels) will elaborate on the imaging of acute non-traumatic head and neck conditions, which are most commonly infections and their complications. The role of imaging in the Evaluation of non-traumatic conditions is crucial, as wrong or delayed diagnosis may result in higher rates of mortality and morbidity. Therefore, radiologists should be familiar with the complex anatomy of the head and neck region and with its possible pathologic conditions and complications.

To end the first session, Frank Pameijer (UMC, Utrecht) will discuss the changes in the latest edition of the AJCC staging in head and neck cancer. Since there were considerable changes in the head and neck chapters, this has resulted in a lot of confusion amongst clinicians and radiologists. Dr. Pameijer will go into detail on four selected topics and illustrate these with examples from daily practice.

After the coffee break the second session will focus on the Infrahyoid Neck Region and will be moderated by Laurens De Cocker (AZ Maria Middelares, Gent).

Frank Pameijer (UMC, Utrecht) will focus on how to systematically approach the infrahyoid neck region. Traditionally, this region is approached using anatomical ‘triangles’, such as the anterior and posterior triangle. Although this ‘spatial approach’ is based on anatomical compartments in different spatial planes, radiological analysis mainly depends on the axial plane.

Emmanuel Coche (UCLouvain, Brussel) will discuss how to evaluate thyroid nodules using ultrasonography and how to accurately stage them based on the European Thyroid Imaging and Reporting Data System (EU-TIRADS score).

After these sessions a Q&A session is scheduled. The morning session ends with a roundup of current matters of the Belgian Society of Radiology by the president Prof. Dr. Piet Vanhoenacker.

After the lunch break, we’ll continue with our third session of the day, allocated to the Cranial Nerves and Posterior Fossa structures, which will be moderated by Dr. Stijn Marcelis.

Sofie Van Cauter (Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk – UZ Leuven – UHasselt) starts the afternoon session with a presentation on the anatomy and imaging of the cranial nerves. MRI is the standard modality in the study of the cranial nerves. Besides the traditional sequences, two additional sequences will be highlighted; these sequences should be included in every MRI procedure of the cranial nerves.

The presentation by Jan Casselman (AZ Sint-Jan, Brugge – UZ Gent – GZA Sint-Augustinus, Antwerp) will emphasize the expert imaging of cranial nerve pathology based on location and anatomical approaches of disease processes. Imaging has a determinant role in etiological assessment and pretherapeutic management.

To end this session, Laurens De Cocker (AZ Maria Middelares, Gent) discusses the pathology of the posterior fossa and exposes pearls and pitfalls facilitating the diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases, tumors, neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders of this area. In addition, typical MRI findings of incidental ‘leave alone lesions’ will be clarified.

The last session on Temporal Bone and Skull Base will be moderated by Flavien Grandjean.

Isabelle Delpierre (Hôpital Universitair Erasme, Brussels – HUDERF) addresses the anatomy of the temporal bone based on clinical cases. The temporal bone is a complex region with many small and tiny structures that need to be known to achieve a systematic analysis, which is essential to avoid missing pathology on imaging.

A wide variety of benign and malignant tumours and pseudotumours may occur at the skull base. To close the annual meeting, Stephanie Vanden Bossche (UZA, Antwerpen – AZ Sint-Jan, Brugge) exposes some tips to facilitate the diagnosis of frequent and well-known pathologies, incidental findings and rare but characteristic skull base tumours.

Faculty

Prof. Dr. Sofie Van Cauter 

Sofie Van Cauter is a dedicated neuro- and ENT radiologist in the department of Medical Imaging in Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg in Genk. She is a consultant neuroradiologist at the University Hospital in Leuven and Brussels and a professor of neuroanatomy at University of Hasselt. She obtained a PhD at the KULeuven in 2013 in advanced MR imaging technique in neuro-oncology and was awarded the ‘Prijs Baert’ in 2014. She is author of more than 30 Pubmed-Indexed scientific publications and delivered more than 90 presentations in national and international conferences. She is currently the president of the neuroradiology section of the BSR and is a member of the subcommittees ‘Head and Neck radiology’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ in the European Society of Neuroradiology and the committee Neuroradiology in the European Society of Radiology.

Dr. Chiara Mabiglia 

Chiara Mabiglia is a neuro- and ENT radiologist at the Medical Imaging department of the Hôpital Erasme and the Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles. From January 2018 she is the French speaking representative of the Belgian Society of Neuroradiology. Her main fields of interest are neuro-oncology, pituitary imaging and head and neck radiology.

Dr. Frank Pameijer 

Dr. Pameijer is a dedicated head and neck radiologist from the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) in the Netherlands. After he received his degree in diagnostic radiology at the University of Utrecht, he did a fellowship focusing on head and neck radiology. He spent a part of this fellowship at the University of Florida (UFL). His mentor, Prof. Anthony Mancuso, encouraged him to go to head and neck procedures such as endoscopy, parotidectomy, laryngectomy and neck dissections. In this way, he gained insight in the clinical importance of radiographic findings. Inspired by Tony Mancuso, he always tries to improve this aspect and deliver reports that cover the information that the treating physician needs (together with the patient) to plan the optimal therapeutic strategy. Research performed at UFL resulted in an academic thesis ‘Pre- and post-radiotherapy computed tomography in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer: Imaging-based prediction of local control’, which he defended in 1999. In the course of the years, he is contributing to the training efforts both in his own hospital, as well as on national and international meetings and courses. He received the ‘Teaching Award’ given by the European Society of Radiology in 2013.

Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Coche 

Emmanuel Coche is a radiologist at the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels and professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University of Louvain. For many years prof. Coche has practised cross-sectional imaging mainly dedicated to cardio-thoracic imaging. In parallel to this imaging, he also dedicated a part of his clinical activity to the management of thyroid and parathyroid disorders by ultrasound. He is largely interested in new technologies such as the photon counting and artificial intelligence but remains convinced that the efforts that remain to be made in the future must focus on human interactions and their well-being. He has written two books on CT scanning and over 150 peer-reviewed papers.

Prof. Dr. Jan Casselman 

Jan Casselman has been a neuro- and head and neck radiologist in Bruges, Belgium, since 1988, chairman from 2004–2022 and consultant radiologist at the St.-Augustinus hospital in Antwerp from 1999–2023. After his medical formation (1976–1983) and radiological certificate (1988) at the University of Leuven, Belgium, with fellowships at the UCLA and Gainesville University, US, he obtained a PhD in 1994 at the University of Ghent, Belgium, with a thesis on imaging of the inner ear. He was president of the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology (ESHNR) between 1999–2002. He has been section editor of Neuroradiology since 2006 and associate editor for head and neck imaging for Radiology since 2013. He is author or co-author of 287 scientific publications and has given over 1250 scientific presentations in more than 50 different countries. He gave the Honorary James Bull Lecture in Harrogate in 2001 and Jongkees Lecture in Amsterdam in 2016 and received the summa cum laude award at the ASNR in Atlanta in 2000. He was appointed guest professor in radiology at the University of Ghent in 2011 and Academic Consultant of the University of Leuven in 2015. He received the Gold Medal – lifetime achievement award of the ESHNR in London, 2018. He has been vice president of the Erasmus Verein since 2021.

Prof. Dr. Laurens De Cocker 

Laurens De Cocker is a neuroradiologist, head and neck radiologist, and residency program supervisor for up to four trainees in AZ Maria Middelares Ghent. After receiving his MD degree cum laude in Leuven in 2007, he obtained ECFMG certification in 2010. He was awarded with the Codali (now Guerbet) Neuroradiology Prize for his paper on ‘MR Neuroimaging of Leukemia’ promoted by Prof. Dr. Philippe Demaerel in 2008. After completion of residency in 2012, Dr. De Cocker received a grant from the BSR for a visiting fellowship in neuroradiology and head and neck radiology in the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He hosted the joint meeting of the Belgian and Dutch Societies of Head and Neck Radiology in Brussels in 2016, and since the same year has been serving as Head and Neck Radiology Section Editor for the Journal of the Belgian Society of Radiology (JBSR). Dr. De Cocker has been participating in editorial (Radiology Now) since 2020 and holds managerial and professional defense activities within the framework of the Belgian Society of Radiology (BSR) Management Committee.

He received a grant from the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) to join the cerebrovascular MRI research group in the University Medical Center Utrecht.

He obtained a PhD in 2015 in Utrecht, with a thesis entitled ‘Cerebellovascular Disease: MR Imaging’. This thesis delivered significant new insights into cerebellar arterial perfusion territories and cerebellar infarction, thanks to innovative routine MRI techniques.

He obtained the European Diploma in Radiology since 2013 and acquired the European Diploma in Neuroradiology in 2014. He has authored or co-authored 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers listed in PubMed and an active participant in national and international neuroradiology meetings.

Dr. Isabelle Delpierre 

Isabelle Delpierre is adjunct clinical head of adult and paediatric neuroradiology and head and neck department in Erasme University Hospital, Free University of Brussels (ULB) and Queen Fabiola University Children’s Hospital Brussels. After a medical formation (1991–1998) and Radiological certificate (2003) in Brussels (ULB), she acquired more expertise in 2003 at Department of Neuroradiology, University of California San Francisco Hospital (UCSF)–USA, under the tutorship of Professor A.J. Barkovich, and supported by a grant from the Royal Belgian Society of Radiology. During two years (2005–2006), she was part of a research project in neuroradiology about spinal cord tractography in MRI, supported by a grant from the To Walk Again Foundation. She has authored and co-authored more than 15 scientific publications listed on PubMed.

Dr. Stephanie Vanden Bossche 

Stephanie Vanden Bossche is a radiologist with a special interest in neuroradiology and head and neck imaging, graduated from Ghent University in 2016, active as a consultant in AZ Sint-Jan Bruges since 2016 and as a staff member in Antwerp University Hospital since 2019. Co-author of three chapters in the ESNR Textbook (on skull base tumours and related disorders, temporal bone pathology, and upper neck spaces anatomy and pathology) in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Casselman and Dr. De Foer.