According to a tradition that began in 1995, TheEuropean Society of Hypertension organized, in part-nership with The Romanian Society of Hypertension,the 2017 ESH Summer School. It is for the first timethat The Summer School was hosted by Romania. Thelocation was the picturesque village of Snagov, whichaccomodated 61 speakers and 69 participants from 38countries, between the 9th and the 15th of September.The Course Directors were Prof. Maria Dorobantu

(President of the ESC Working group of Microcircula-tion and Coronary Pathophysiology, President of TheRomanian Society of Hypertension, Bucharest) andProf. Renata Cifkova (Head, Department of PreventiveCardiology, Thomayer Teaching Hospital, Prague, CZ).The Romanian delegation was the most numerous,comprising six delegates.The Summer School started with a lovely cruise

through the history of the antihypertensive therapyconducted by Prof. Zanchetti, followed by a glimpseinto the future, as Prof. Anna Dominiczak offered us asnapshot of what can be done in cardiovascular genet-ics. Prof. Giuseppe Mancia showed us a reappraisal of

the guidelines and on the particularities of the hyper-

tensive patient, while Prof. Enrico Agabiti Rosei up-dated us on detection, prevention and regression oforgan damage. The isolated systolic hypertension in theyouth was detailed by Prof. Empar Lurbe. Prof. Anto-nio Coca explained the pathophysiology of brain dam-age in hypertension. Prof. Gianfranco Parati providedan overview on how, where and when to measure bloodpressure in our current practice for optimal results. Ob-structive sleep apnoea and its place in hypertensiontreatment was presented by Prof. Krzysztof Narkiewicz.The practical aspects on how to design and con-

duct a clinical trial were detailed by Prof. Sverre E.

Journal of HYPERTENSION RESEARCH

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Editorial

J Hypertens Res (2017) 3(3):105–107

ESH Summer school 2017 in retrospect

Mihaela Popescu *

UMF Carol Davila, Cardiology Dept., Elias Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania

Received: September 4, 2017, Accepted: September 18, 2017

©The Author(s) 2017. This article is published with open accessunder the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

* Correspondence to: Mihaela POPESCU, MDUMF Carol Davila, Cardiology Dept., Elias Emergency University Hospital, 17 Marasti Street, Cardiology Department, Bucharest, Romania.e-mail: roxana.popescu@umfcd.ro

Fig. 1. 2017 ESH Summer School hosted in Snagov, Romania

Kjeldsen and Prof. Cristian Baicus. There was also asession on managing hypertension in the elderly byProf. Sverre E. Kjeldsen. The renal pathology and hypertension were very

debated subjects, starting with renal artery stenosisoverviewed by A.H. van den Meiracker, followed by hy-pertension in chronic kidney disease presented by ProfMichel Burnier and ending with the endemic (Balkan)nephropathy presented by Prof. Bojan Jelaković.Another largely discussed topic was the autonomic

control of the cardiovascular system (Prof. GuidoGrassi) and the RAAS and its effect on the cardiovas-cular system (Prof. Thomas Unger). An overview onpheochromocytoma followed, presented by Joanna Ma-trozova. Drug adherence in hypertension was addressedby Prof Michel Burnier. Prof. Peter M Nilsson enlight-ened us on early vascular ageing and the mechanismsof hypertension in diabetes. A whole debate ensued

over the issue of salt and hypertension in the light ofolder dogmas and newer studies conducted by Prof.Thomas Unger. The next subjected to be discussed wasthat of large arteries and hypertension by PierreBoutouyrie and of microcirculation and hypertensionby Prof. Harry Struijker Boudier.The non-pharmacologic treatment in hypertension

was overviewed by Cornelia Bala, while the epidemiol-ogy of arterial hypertension across Europe was pre-sented by our host, Prof. Maria Dorobantu.Hypertension as a main risk factor for cardiovasculardisease was addressed by Prof. Crina Sinescu. Anotherinteresting topic was that of uric acid in hypertensionexplained by Prof. Claudio Borghi. Prof. Csaba Farsangchallenged us in hypertensive emergency management.Hypertension and atrial fibrillation were referred to byProf. Athanasios J. Manolis. The closing talk was given

Popescu M. ESH Summer school 2017 in retrospect

106 ©The Author(s) 2017

Fig. 2. Group Photo of The 2017 ESH Summer School, with the fellows and some of the speakers: Prof. Renata Cifkova, Prof. GiuseppeMancia, Prof. Maria Doroban�u, Prof. Alberto Zanchetti, Prof. Enrico Agabiti-Rosei, Prof. Empar Lurbe, Prof. Peter M Nilsson, Prof.Krzysztof Narkiewicz.

by our other course director, Prof. Renata Cífkova, onhypertension in pregnancy.The fellows were also invited to actively participate

with questions, which became the starting point forlively discussions, as well as with oral and poster pre-sentations. The programme was very well designed inthat the oral presentations of the fellows were pairedwith similar topic presentations by the speakers, whichcompleted the theoretical part with a more practicalview on those particular subjects.It was for the first time that the Summer School in-

cluded hands-on workshops on practical skills and in-vestigations. These included a Doppler Ultasoundworkshop focused on carotid intima-media thickness

and plaques exploration, presented by Prof. RoxanaDarabont, a workshop on the echocardiographic assess-ment in hypertension, hosted by Prof. DoinaDimulescu and one on the non-invasive hemodynamicmeasurement in hypertension, performed by Assist.Prof. Oana Tautu. The leisure part of the Summer School was not

neglected, as one afternoon was dedicated to visitingthe City of Bucharest, with a highlight on the Palace ofthe Parliament, the heaviest building in the world, andsampling some of the Romanian cuisine and musiclater in the evening. The Summer School ended withthe Gala Dinner, hosted in the Snagov Palace, a formerroyal palace.

J Hypertens Res (2017) 3(3):105–107

©The Author(s) 2017 107