FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Newswise — (New Orleans, LA) Over 200 scientific abstracts were approved for presentation at the AANEM 2016 Annual Meeting held in New Orleans, LA, September 14-17, 2016. The AANEM Program Committee chose one outstanding abstract out of the hundreds to be honored with the Golseth Young Investigator Award.
The recipient of the 2016 Golseth Young Investigator Award is Santoshi Billakota, MD, for the abstract, “Utility of Ultrasound in Diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome”. “Winning this award is an honor, and encourages me to continue pursuing my interests in clinical research,” says Dr. Billakota. Dr. Billakota is currently a Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsy fellow at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. Her professional goals are to become a neurophysiologist in an academic tertiary care center with continued interest in clinical research. The key findings of interest from the research: “This study looked at 1,904 extremities with the final diagnosis of CTS. Out of 1,904 extremities, 1,425 (74.8%) of them were examined using both EDx and US studies. We used EDx studies as the gold standard for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This study concluded that US can be used to screen for and possibly diagnose CTS in an unselected patient population, but provides no meaningful information regarding EDX severity. This reinforces our assertion that US and EDx testing should be used in a complementary manner; for example- in clinically symptomatic patients, median nerve CSA is 9mm2 or less, it is highly unlikely that EDx testing will reveal abnormalities consistent with CTS and needle EMG for cervical radiculopathy might be the most appropriate next step.” Why did you choose to submit research to the AANEM meeting? “The question being asked was a very good one and more importantly, one that I was interested in answering. This study required an extensive amount of data collection and with the help of my mentor and co-author, Dr. Hobson-Webb, I was able to stay on the right path. We worked very hard and put together a good study that I think answers a very important question in neuromuscular medicine. In submitting this research, we were hoping to lay the foundation for further studies highlighting the utility of sonography in neuromuscular medicine, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in particular. One day, we are hopeful that sonography might be incorporated into clinical practice everywhere in the diagnosis of CTS.” The Golseth Young Investigator Award, honoring AANEM founding member, Dr. James Golseth, is presented annually for original research in neuromuscular and EDX medicine. The AANEM Foundation has been funding the award since 1998. About AANEMFounded in 1953, the AANEM is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, and electrodiagnostic medicine. Nearly 5000 physician members—primarily neurologists and physiatrists—are now joined by allied health professionals and PhD researchers working to improve the quality of medical care provided to patients with muscle and nerve disorders. AANEM programs are guided by its five pillars: education, professional standards, advocacy, communications, and research. Its administrative office is located in Rochester, MN. More information about AANEM Achievement Awards is available at http://www.aanem.org/Membership/Member-Portal/Achievement-Awards/Current-Award-RecipientsThe AANEM 2016 Annual Meeting Abstracts were printed in the September 2016 issue of Muscle & Nerve, and are available on the AANEM website at https://www.aanem.org/Meetings/Annual-Meeting/Abstracts
### END ###Media Contact: Laurie MonaAANEM Communications Manager507.288.0100[email protected]
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