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On 29 October to 1 November 2025, the joint meeting of the Sociedad Española de Neurorradiología (SENR) and SILAN was held in Barcelona (Hotel Barceló Sants). This gathering stood out not only for high‑level scientific content in interventional neuroradiology (INR) but also for its integrative platform that brought together European (Spain and Portugal) and Latin American realities.
The format emphasised cross‑regional dialogue: European delegates shared best‑practice protocols and health‑system benchmarking, while Latin American colleagues brought forward real‑world adaptations, resource‑variability, and innovation in constrained settings.
A dedicated plenary on acute stroke treatment illuminated the differences in system organisation across regions — from workflow metrics in Spain/Portugal to access and logistics in LATAM systems.
Speakers such as Gustavo Foa Torres (Argentina) and Mariana Romero (Uruguay) paired with Spanish/European colleagues like Alejandro Tomasello (Spain) of Luisa Biscoito (Portugal) to show how practice models diverge and converge: how geographic, infrastructural and policy contexts shape thrombectomy programs.
The meeting provided a showcase for innovation: society members such as Pedro Lylyk, Alejandro Tomasello, Mario Martínez‑Galdámez, Marc Ribo, Orlando Diaz, Marco Tulio Rezende, Alfredo Casasco, between others, and European / American experts like Charbel Mounayer and Demetrius Lopes, showed their expertise in treatments and innovation, and the latest advances in the field in brain arteriovenous malformations, AI, brain aneurysm, chronic subdural hematomas or spinal diseases.
The meeting was perfectly conducted by Dr. Alejandro Tomasello from the local and Dr. Gelson Koppe as the International INR committee.
Key takeaway: while European centres might emphasise protocol standardisation, high volume and resource‑intensive models, Latin American centres illustrated creative workflow adaptations, mobile solutions, networking across public/private sectors and efforts to extend thrombectomy access beyond metropolitan hubs.
SILAN 2025 in Barcelona was more than another annual congress: it was a bridge between continents, a laboratory of practice‑innovation, and a forum where stroke and other disease treatment realities across Europe and Latin America came into constructive dialogue. It reaffirmed that while device platforms and techniques may converge globally, local system realities, workflows, reimbursement models and network structures still differ — and that recognising those differences is key to advancing equitable cerebrovascular care worldwide.
Reported by Rodrigo Rivera
