Editor: Ghassan K. Bejjani, MD

In This Issue:
- President's Message
- Upcoming Elections
- WALN Directory
- Our Honorary Presidents: Fuad Sami Haddad
- Professional News
- The Social Corner
- The Lebanese Corner
- The WALN World Wide Web Page
- WALN First Homecoming Congress is Reality
- Echmoun or the healing god of Phoenicia
- Reminder: Membership dues
- Creation of the Associate Member Category of WALN
- Statistics
- Election of the Newsletter Editor
- Calendar of Events
- In the Next Issue


President's Message

This Newsletter issue is the first prepared by our new Newsletter Editor Dr. Ghassan Bejjani, illustrating the best of splendid enthusiasm and energy of our young WALN membership. Dr. Bejjani replaces Dr. Jacques Morcos who was responsible for launching our first Newsletter issues, and who labored mightily to present you with updates on WALN activities for over three years.

We are grateful to Dr. Morcos for his service, and congratulate Dr. Bejjani on his new responsibilities and on this outstanding first issue of the Newsletter. Dr. Bejjani has proposed a number of innovative strategies to further enhance and improve the Newsletter, including plans to publish it on the Internet in the near future as part of the new WALN Homepage currently under construction. As always, input and news or other vignettes are welcome, and may be submitted to Dr. Bejjani at any time by any WALN member.

Plans are being finalized for the WALN Homecoming Congress in Beirut July 13-16, 1997. All are encouraged to complete and submit registration materials as soon as possible, along with an abstract if you plan to present a paper or interesting case. You also need to finalize hotel and airline reservations as soon as possible as this is a very busy travel period to Lebanon. This is our most formidable and meaningful WALN project, and every WALN member is strongly urged to plan to attend. Dr. Georges Haddad and the Local Organizing Committee are to be congratulated on their splendid preparations for this event.

I have just returned from a visit to Brazil where I met with our Regional Representative Dr. Nilton Latuf and numerous WALN members. Our Lebanese neurosurgical heritage is proud and rich in Latin America, and our WALN colleagues there look to the WALN for continued leadership and belongingness. They plan to attend in big numbers our homecoming congress in Beirut! At another recent visit to Egypt, I discussed with a number of Arab neurosurgical colleagues better ways of integrating the WALN in panarab neurosurgical activities, and strategies of developing other regional societies along the WALN model to harvest the extraordinary potential of Arab professional and cultural talent around the world.

A number of projects are coming to fruition toward the end of my five year tenure as the Founding President of this august organization. Our several yearly Dinner/Reunions have become a pleasant routine at National neurosurgical meetings, and we have a successful and energized Newsletter and increasing interest and support by all neurosurgical friends and sons of Lebanon. An internet homepage, a US taxfree status, and a biographical directory are all nearly completed, and we are braced to execute an extraordinary homecoming congress in our home country. These are the fruits of selfless labor by countless officers, members and various committees of the WALN who all deserve our gratitude and congratulations. It gives me great pleasure and immense pride to see the success of these efforts during my tenure, and to plan to hand over the gavel of leadership of a vibrant and proud organization to the next WALN President who will be nominated and elected in Beirut according to our Bylaws at the time of our upcoming Congress. It is a WALN with an identity and a purpose, and an organization which will achieve and inspire, and which will reach new heights in upcoming years.

ISSAM A. AWAD, MD, MSc, FACS, MA (hon)
President of WALN


Upcoming Elections

The year 1997 will see the election of a new board of officers including the President, the Secretary Treasurer and four Regional Representatives for Lebanon, Europe, North America and Latin America. The Newsletter Editor has been already elected as previously mentioned. We will briefly review the general bylaws concerning these elections. The detailed bylaws can be obtained from previous issues of the WALN Newsletter (i.e. number 5, September 1996), from our website, or by a written request to the Secretary-Treasurer.

The elected officers serve a renewable 3-year term. They are nominated or volunteer for service. They are confirmed by election during official WALN reunions. The vote can be personal votes for those present during the WALN reunion or by proxy vote previously mailed to the secretary treasurer.

The President coordinates overall activities of WALN and insures the fulfillment of its mission.

The Secretary Treasurer maintains a roster of the members, processes membership applications, and assesses and collects the regular and special project dues. He coordinates all WALN mailings, announcement and information, in collaboration with the other officers.

The Regional Representatives maintain and update a roster of the members and eligible members in their respective geographical areas and act as liaison between these members and the board of officers and the remaining WALN members. they are entrusted with the preparation of Newsletter material from and about their region as well as its distribution. There are four geographical areas: Lebanon, Europe, North America and Latin America.

We welcome all nominations and thank the current board of officers for their efforts. We hope to hold these elections in Beirut this summer during the homecoming congress.


WALN Directory

The board of officers is pleased to announce that the WALN directory is underway and that major steps towards its publications have been accomplished thanks to the effort of our regional representatives. We have so far gathered complete information on over 60 members.

We are mailing to each member with the current newsletter a copy of the information we have on record on them. Please read it carefully and make the necessary changes or additions and mail it back in the return envelope provided before May 1st 1997. We hope to have the directory in press by July 1997. The regional representatives will be calling the non responders over the phone to complete the information before this deadline.

The directory will have a loose leaflet format so additions/ modifications can be easily done. Its purpose is to help the members of WALN get acquainted with each other. This information will not be made available to any commercial organization. A list with only the names of different eligible members will be available on the WALN website. The remaining information will not be made available to the public.

All suggestions are welcome.


Our Honorary Presidents: Fuad Sami Haddad

Dr Fuad Haddad was born in Beirut on March 31, 1924 and was raised in family with close ties to the medical field. His father, Dr Sami Haddad, a Urologist, trained at John Hopkins, became Dean of the medical school at AUB and the Chairman of the Surgery Department. As a child, Fuad was enrolled in the College Protestant Francais from the age of 4 years to 11, then in the Section Secondaireof the International College of Beirut. He received his baccalaueate and ranked first in the nation.

Following in the footsteps his father, he wanted to become a Urologist. He earned his B.A and M.D. from the A.U.B. in 1944 and 1948 respectively. He then started his internship and urology residency at the Orient Hospital in 1948. He hoped to travel to the United States to further his urology training, but this was not an easy task in the aftermath of World War II.

In 1950, Wilder Penfield visited AUB. He met with Pinkston, who was Professor of Physiology and Dean of the medical school, and told him that he was willing to train a Lebanese doctor in neurosurgery. Fuad Haddad was then an Instructor in Physiology, so he was the candidate of the School. He arrived in Montreal in July 1950 and trained there for four and half years. After he became Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in December 1954, and obtaining his Certificate of Neurosurgey from Canada and his American Board of Neurosurgery, he returned to Lebanon on December 30 of the same year. He started working at the AUB on January 1st , 1955, becoming the first fully trained neurosurgeon to practice in the Arab world.

With outdated equipment, lack of proper tools (i.e., proper suction machines, electrocautery, stand by electrical motor in a country where electricity would be cut without any prior notice etc.) the beginning of Haddad's career was difficult. to say the least. Neuro-anesthesia was lacking, there were no intensive care units. Neuroradiology and neuropathology were nonexistent. Haddad introduced cerebral angiography as well as pneumoencephalography and ventriculography to Lebanon.

Haddad's first surgical case was a herniated disk and during surgery the patient's blood pressure dropped intraoperatively for unknown reasons. He had not bled at all. However the patient recovered well. In retrospect this was an anaphylactic reaction to Novocaine.

Haddad found it hard to convince patients to undergo brain surgery. The diagnosis of brain tumors was frequently missed by the medical body at large. His first cranial case was a glioblastoma multiform in a widow of a doctor: the entertained diagnosis by her physician was a stroke, despite the gradual unfurling of her symptoms and a florid papilledema.

The results in the beginning were not very encouraging, with patients harboring malignant brain tumors dying regardless of treatment. This created a sense of disenchantment in Haddad . However, with the continuous support of his mentor, Arthur Elvidge, Dr. Haddad persisted in his work.

Throughout Haddad's career, his academic life flourished. He was appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery in the Medical School where he taught neuroanatomy and neurosurgery in 1955. In 1960 he became Clinical Associate Professor, and in 1974, Clinical Professor at the AUB. He was appointed Head of the Division of Neurosurgery at the AUB from 1965 to 1979. In 1990 he became Chairman of Surgery and held that post for two years. In 1961, in tribute to his teacher, he started the annual Wilder Penfield lecture. The first lecture, "University Medicine", was delivered by Penfield himself. Support was first provided in a sporadic form by various donors among them patients of Penfield, and since 1963, by late Antoine Massabaki. The mother of Antoine had been operated by Penfield for seizures. After Massabki's death in 1990, thank to his friendship to Fuad Haddad, the former, bequeathed a sum large enough to perpetuate this Lectureship.

Dr. Fuad Haddad started a residency training program in 1972 (Dr Saliby was the first fully trained resident in that program). His commitment to teaching reached further to the Arab world, with his major contribution to the recently founded Arab Board of Neurosurgery, where he holds the position of Vice Chairman.

Fuad Haddad had also a strong standing will to gather the neurosurgeons locally, regionally and internationally. This started soon after the first International Congress of Neurosciences in Brussels, when he founded the Middle East Neurosurgical Society. To find the minimum required number of five members attending the Congress, India was included in MENS. The other founding members were an Egyptian and three Indian neurosurgeons. The first meeting of MENS was held in Beirut. A year earlier, he had founded the Lebanese Society of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. His longstanding goal (since 1971), thwarted by the war in Lebanon,was to unite neurosurgeons of Lebanese descent in an Association he called the World Association of Lebanese Neurosurgeons. His dream was realized 22 years later with the establishment of WALN.

Dr. Fuad Haddad is married to Aida Nasir, a former nurse that he met during the resection of a spinal meningioma. His contributions to neurosurgery; besides his professional achievements, include two sons neurosurgeons: Georges Haddad, our regional representative in Lebanon, and Souheil Haddad in Bloomington, Indiana. He has three other sons : Fady, a general surgeon in Tennessee, Nabih, a business administrator with Merrill-Lynch in Parisand Labib, a radiologist inSaint Louis, Missouri. His only daughter, Janane, is a nutritionist married to Dr.Estephan Zayat at John Hopkins, Baltimore.

It is very hard to enumerate Dr. Haddad's many achievements in this limited space. He is a member of over 25 scientific societies, of which he founded or co-founded at least six. He has held offices in over 29 scientific societies and has been a visiting professor in Neurosurgery in five American Universities. He has published extensively ( 122 articles and three books) both in international and national journals. He has been the editor of the Lebanese Medical Journal, The Middle East Medical Journal, the Arab Journal of Surgery and is currently on the Editorial Board of Surgical Neurology. In recognition to his major contributions to neurosurgery in Lebanon and the Arab world, he was recently awarded the medal of the Lebanese Golden Order of the Cedar, Commander, in December 1990.

In conclusion, we can state that Dr Fuad S. Haddad is truly the Pioneer of Lebanese and Arab Neurosurgery.


Professional News

Appointment of Dr. Comair
Dr. Yussuf Comair has been appointed head of the division of Neurosurgery at The American University of Beirut Medical Center, starting January 1997. Congratulations to Dr. Comair.

Elections of the LNS
The Lebanese Neurosurgical Society held its elections on January 1, 1997, in the local of the Order of Physicians. Dr Afif Alwan was re-elected as President, Dr Nabil Okais is the Vice President, Dr Saad Farah is the Secretary, Dr Tarek Sha'ar is the Treasurer and the three elected members are: Dr Georges Haddad, Dr Raef Fardoun and Dr Mohamad Saad. The new Board of Officers decided to hold a scientific meeting the last Saturday of each month from 9 am to 12 p.m. in the local of the order of physicians. This meeting includes case presentations.


The Social Corner

Weddings
- The regional representative of WALN for Lebanon, Dr. George Haddad got married to Miss Nadia El-Chaikh on September 20, 1996 in Beirut. The WALN Newsletter congratulates the newly wed.
- Our colleague in Lebanon, Dr. Sami Akouri got married also with Rania Sarkis on August 17, 1996.
- WALN has also learned that another colleague in Lebanon Dr. Maroun Abou Nader got married on May 25, 1996.

Births
- Our recently wed colleague, Dr. George Nohra, at the Hotel Dieu De France, in Beirut had his first baby, Marc during the summer of 1996.


The "Lebanese Corner": A Special Computerized Collection at the American University of Beirut, Saab Medical Library

AUB Saab Medical Library announces the creation of the "Lebanese corner" and its availability to all interested users. This Lebanese corner is a collection of what has been published in the field of medicine and allied health sciences about Lebanon or by Lebanese authors. All the documents, when received are indexed and entered into a computerized system for easy storage and retrieval. This corner also includes all the articles published in "Journal Medical Libanais". A need was felt to create this corner when many documents or articles written by Lebanese authors were not indexed in the international indexes and hence it was very difficult for searchers to retrieve or trace them. It is intended to publish this corner in series in the future.

You can help by sending a list of all your publications ( and reprints or photocopies if available) in the fields of medicine, medical sciences or other related health topics to the following address:
Medical Librarian
Saab Medical Library
American University of Beirut
P.O. Box: 11-0236/36
Beirut Lebanon

For those willing to search the Lebanese Corner database, they can stop by the Medical Library or call the reference section at 01-354911 ext. 5911 or 5916 to take an appointment.


The WALN World Wide Web Page

The project for a world wide web page for WALN was recently completed. The site is still under construction so suggestions and contributions are welcome. The home page includes the Logo of WALN, plus the names of the Officers.

Other links are: a historical note, Bylaws, the Newsletter, the Directory , WALN first homecoming congress and about Lebanon.

The address is http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gbejjani/waln.html


WALN First Homecoming Congress is Reality

The WALN first homecoming meeting will finally take place on July 13-17, 1997, under the patronage of his Excellency, the President of the Lebanese Republic, Mr. Elias Hraoui.

This meeting is the result of intensive labor of the local organizing comittee, mainly its chairman, Dr Georges Fuad Haddad. It will be held in the Century Park Hotel, Kaslik, Lebanon.

The meeting starts at 19:30 on Sunday July 13 with an opening reception at the Century Park Hotel. The following three days will include morning scientific sessions and afternoon touristic excursions with special evening social activities as follows:

MONDAY
Morning Session I 8 to9:45 Neuro-oncology
COFFEE BREAK
Morning Session II10:15 to12 Pediatric Neurosurgery
LUNCH AT CENTURY PARK HOTEL
Afternoon Excursion 14:00-19:00 : Beit-Eddine
DINNER

TUESDAY
Morning Session I 8 to9:45: Functional and Epilepsy Surgery
COFFEE BREAK
Morning Session II10:15 to12: Spine and Trauma Surgery
LUNCH AT CENTURY PARK HOTEL
Afternoon Excursion 14:00-19:00 :Jeita and Byblos
DINNER

WEDNESDAY
Morning Session I 8 to9:45 : Neurovascular Surgery
COFFEE BREAK
Morning Session II10:15 to12: General Assembly of WALN
LUNCH AT CENTURY PARK HOTEL
Afternoon Excursion 14:00-19:00 :Balamand and Tripoli
DINNER

The abstracts should be sent to either Dr George Haddad or Dr Issam Awad. They should be received no later than May 1st 1997 to be included in the program.

The scientific sessions are open to the public. No fee is required. For the social activities ( opening ceremony, coffee breaks, lunches, excursions and dinner) the registration fees are US$ 250,00 for participants and US$ 150,00 for accompanying persons. Registration information has to be sent to Doctor George Haddad by Fax at 961-1-372-259 and transfer the applicable fee to bank account number 02 02 43010 41852 , (Dr Georges Haddad ) at the Allied Business Bank, Ras Beirut Branch, Beirut, Lebanon.

The Century Park Hotel has agreed to give a special rate to WALN( from US$100 for a deluxe single room to US$ 155 for a marquis double room), so when contacting the hotel, quote the WALN meeting. The hotel can be reached by phone at 961-9-219-000, Fax at 961-9-213-050, or email: CENTURY.PARK.HOTEL@inco.com.lb

The hotel has a website at http://www.CENTURYPARKHOTEL.com.lb

More details will follow in the second announcement to be mailed soon.


Echmoun or the healing god of Phoenicia

The Phoenician god of medicine is Echmoun. The origin of the name Echmoun may have come from "chemen" or oil, making him the god that anoints and heals, or from "ech" or eight, the eighth Cabire, born from the North Star, who combined cosmic and medical powers. According to the legend, Echmoun was the most handsome of all gods. The goddess Astar Naamah fell in love with him. To flee her passion, Echmoun mutilated himself. Terrified, Astar Naamah threw herself on him and brought him back to life.

Echmoun is represented standing with a star on either side, near a snake, a symbol that he shares with the Greek god of medicine, Asclepios.

Echmoun is first mentioned as a god-guarantor in the treaty concluded in 677 B.C. between Asarhaddon, the Assyrian king, and Baal, the king of Tyr, after destroying Sidon. This makes from Echmoun the most ancient healing god. Although Asclepios was born in 1260 B.C., he was human until 420-429, when he became an "official" god in Athens.

Echmoun had temples throughout Phoenicia and the Mediterranean basin, the most famous of which is his temple in Boustan-El-Cheikh, near the Awali river, south of Sidon. The temple was built in the 5th century BC by Echmounazor, king of Sidon, and was not rediscovered until 1924 by Maurice Dunand. It has architectural contributions from the different cultures of the area: Persian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, etc. The temple is marked by the belief in the healing power of water, water brought to the sacred pool from the spring of Ain Ydlal in the nearby mountain.

Healing rituals of the time included the following steps:
-Appease divine anger by breaking sacred statuettes dedicated to the god;
-chase demons from the body of the sick with expulsionary rites;
-wash the body from the remains of demons; and
-sacrifice-substitution, or "transfer"- sacrificing an animal (goat, lamb, rooster, etc. ) in place of the sick person.

These rituals are far from modern medicine. However, whether an anointing god or a guiding star, Echmoun is an element of the cherished Phoenician heritage of the Lebanese people.


Reminder: Membership dues

We are having a consistent problem with dues. The dues of WALN are minimal but essential to cover the basic cost of printing and mailing the WALN Newsletter, as well to maintain our website. They also allow the WALN to embark on more projects to help young neurosurgeons.

A very limited number of members payed their dues in 1996.

We urge you to submit you dues payment in the attached envelope. All forms of payment will be accepted accepted: credit card, check, money order. Payment is due by July 15, 1997 and should be payable to WALN, and mailed to either Dr Muakassa or your regional representative.

Members who do not pay their dues will be placed on inactive status. Active members receive the WALN newsletter free of charge. They also receive the WALN directory at a reduced rate. An annual membership certificate will be issued to those who have payed their dues and have submitted a completed membership application. The membership application is the biographical profile mailed with this issue.

Creation of the Associate Member Category of WALN

During the WALN meeting in Montreal in September/October 1996, a new category of membership Associate Member was approved by unanimous vote. To be eligible for this category of membership, candidates must meet two main criteria:
- Candidates must be active in a field related to neurosurgery, neurology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, neuro-otology, neuroanesthesiology or another neuroscience field.
- They must be Lebanese, of Lebanese descent, or have any connection with, relationship to or interest in Lebanon.

Applications must be submitted via letter to the Secretary Treasurer (Directly or through a regional representative).

Acceptance will be based on good professional standing. There will be no discrimination related to political positions, religion, sex, age, practice and training countries or type of training or practice. Yearly membership dues are US$ 25.00 (residents in training are exempt from the dues). Associate members will receive the bi-annual WALN newsletter and all other association mailings as well the WALN directory at a reduced rate. Membership certificates will be issued to those members who have completed a biographical profile. The biographical profile is part of the membership application and can be obtained from any WALN officer.


Statistics

Eligible members of WALN:
- Argentina 4 members
- Brazil 39 members
- Canada 9 members
- Colombia 3 members
- France 21 members
- Jamaica 1 member
- Lebanon 70 members
- USA 58 members
- Total 205 members


Election of the Newsletter Editor

As some of you may know, Dr. Jacques Morcos announced in the September 1996 edition that he was stepping down from his position of Newsletter editor of WALN. During the latest meeting of WALN in Montreal, Dr. Ghassan K. Bejjani was elected for a full term. We would like to thank Dr. Morcos for his work as the editor of the WALN Newsletter.


Calendar of Events

- The AANS Denver meeting: reunion will be held at the restaurant Fettouch at 1448 Market Street in downtown Denver. Dinner will be served at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15th. The business meeting will follow.

- The 47th Congress of the Societe de Neurochirurgie de Langue Francaise will be held in Marakech, Morocco, on May 25-28, 1997.For registration and information please contact ABF Congres International Phone # (212 2)401737, Fax # (212 2)491740.

Meetings in Lebanon
- The Middle East Medical Assembly (MEMA) will be held in Beirut, at The AUB from May 5-11, 1997. A half day will be dedicated to neurosurgery on the morning of Sunday May 11, 1997. Dr Maurice. Choux will be giving the Wilder Penfield lecture. Topic to be announced.
- The First homecoming Congress of WALN will be held on July 13-17, 1997, in the Century Park Hotel, Kaslik (cf. special section above).
- The IXth European Association of Neurosurgical Societies Pan-Arab Course will be held in Beirut between October 23rd and October 26th, 1997. Faculty includes speakers from Europe and the US. The guest of honor will be Dr Laligam N. Sekhar. Those interested in registering should contact Professor Antoine Nachanakian:
Division of Neurosurgery
Hopital Saint Georges
Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Phone: 961-3-278818


In the Next Issue

- Our Honorary Presidents: Dr Gedeon Mohasseb.
- The Arab Board of Neurosurgery
- WALN: A Historical Note
- plus more historical vignettes, and new corners

For More Information Contact:
World Association of Lebanese Neurosurgeons
Tristate Neurosurgical Associates, 200 Lothrop Street, Suite 5C
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Tel: 412-647-3604
FAX: 412-647-3605
Internet: bejjanigk@msx.upmc.edu


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