Best Communication of Scientific Data

Summary of work

Winner: The European Hyponatraemia Network: Disseminating Data

The availability of Otsuka’s tolvaptan (Samsca) is stimulating interest in hyponatraemia. Despite being the most common electrolyte disorder in hospitalised patients and associated with poor prognosis and extended hospital stays, hyponatraemia is often under-recognised and poorly managed.

To provide education and guidance to physicians, a pan-European programme was developed to communicate data on the pathophysiology, consequences, diagnosis and treatment of hyponatraemia via an influential network of endocrinologists and nephrologists.

The successful cascade of knowledge through this network has raised the profile of hyponatraemia amongst the medical profession, developed additional experts across Europe and ultimately improved the management of this condition.

Judges comments

Good programme, well planned, very comprehensive: overall, it was of exceptionally high educational value.