Nuclear Medicine in the Management of Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases

As chairman of the European Association of Nuclear Medi­ cine (EANM) 2001 annual meeting, I tried to reach two goals: a "universal nuclear medicine" congress where all people could speak and learn using the same language, and a full exploration of the possibility of making a diagnosis through global imaging. I am personally convinced that nuclear med­ icine techniques in the detection of infection and inflamma­ tion are essential, and in the near future their role and clinical impact will be impressive. As stated during the meeting, this topic will be one of the major and expanding fields of interest for nuclear medicine. During the post-congress meetings organized in Capri by Alberto Signore and Mauro Liberatore for each topic, there was a leading expert for the clinical, radiological and nuclear medicine aspects. This interaction was crucial for the quality of the discussion and the definition of flow charts that will be useful for all the medical community. These meetings, where for each topic there is full coverage of all the aspects of imaging, are, in my opinion, the most fruitful and useful for the progression and diffusion of nu­ clear medicine procedures. May 2002 Prof. Marco Salvatore Chairman of the EANM Congress 2001 Some 35 years ago, a French singer sold millions of records with a song, trying to tell the world "Capri c'est fini" - Capri is over.