Address of the President of the “Radiology 2017” Congress

President of the Congress-2017, Professor
Dombrovski V.I.

Dear Colleagues! Ladies and Gentlemen!

Many factors unite us, different people, women and men, young and wise in experience, with different level of education or without it, living in big cities and small towns of the vast country.  One of these factors, the most essential for many people, is the professional activities in the field of radiation diagnostics and radiotherapy, to which our teachers and teachers of our teachers have devoted most part of their lives.

Since the beginning of the last century, imaging modality methods traditionally hold the leading positions not only at the stage of identifying a particular disease process, and monitoring of its course, but also upon selection of treatment tactics and evaluating its effectiveness.  Today it is also difficult to imagine fight against cancerous diseases without application of various types of radiation therapy.  It should to noted that this has been made possible thanks to the outstanding researches of our predecessors, and those still alive, starting from Wilhelm Conrad Rentgen) and ending by Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield.  Not every clinical discipline can be proud of the fact that its emergence and development became possible due to papers of more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners, and not only in the field of physiology and medicine, but also in chemistry and physics.

Of course, progress in the field of radiation diagnostics and radiotherapy would not be so significant without the labor of representatives of different professions, who ensured the development of technologies and, as a consequence, introduction to the clinical practice of new models and versions of hardware and software, respectively.

Despite the recurrences of global economic crisis, we can say that the major medical centers in the country and ordinary hospitals continue to receive and use modern diagnostic equipment of last generation, implementing the possibilities of all radiation modalities. Thus, the presence of digital X-ray machines, ultrasound scanners of expert class, gamma cameras, multislice CT-scanners, and high field MRI-scanners is not something unusual for a city hospital.

Following the principle of continuation, it is impossible not to draw the attention of colleagues to the existing problems and unsolved objectives in our speciality, announced in the Address of the President of the "Radiology 2016" Congress, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor L. S. Kokov.  This is often "... inefficient use of modern equipment, lack of awareness of physicians about the possibilities of modern techniques, duplication or use of techniques not in full volume...".  Another obvious drawback is the internal disconnection of X-ray diagnostics service specialists. In other words, not always a radiologist working, for example, in the magnetic resonance tomography office, is duly aware of the diagnostic potential of other introscopic research methods.

Returning to the thesis of the uniting factor, we can say that the most important annual event of our professional community is the most representative in the country All-Russian National Congress of X-ray diagnosticians and therapists, traditionally held in late May in Moscow.  In frame of this forum for already 10 years there are discussed critical issues of development of medical imaging and radiation therapy in clinical practice, scientific activities and staff training problems.

There is reason to hope that the Eleventh All-Russian National Congress of X-ray diagnosticians and therapists "Radiology 2017" will not become an exception.  At its plenary and breakout sessions, schools and workshops, satellite symposiums the current status of radiation diagnosis and therapy in the country and the world will be discussed, and the vector of their development will be scheduled.  Particular attention will be paid to diseases of urogenital area, their early detection, assessment of the severity and monitoring of treatment via a complex of radiological research methods. Along with this, the organizing committee of the Congress welcomes timely applications from its future participants with a proposal to organize a breakout session or workshop, dedicated to a particular topic.

The Congress will be attended by well-known national and foreign scientists, leading experts both in the field of radiation diagnostics and therapy, and colleagues representing other clinical disciplines.  This, in turn, will enable the direct discussion of issues of mutual interest not only in the framework of official events, but also on the sidelines.

Ten years' experience of holding the National Congresses allows to conclude that they are highly efficient in bringing together and improving mutual understanding between physicians of all specialties, continuity in work and, ultimately, improving the health care for citizens of the Russian Federation.

I am sure that the XI All-Russian National Congress of X-ray diagnosticians and therapists will be successful just as all the previous ones.

We are waiting for you on May 23–25, 2017.  See you at the Congress!

Yours faithfully,
President of the Congress "Radiology 2017"
Professor V. I. Dombrovski