What is the message of a meeting? Analysis and comparison of the 2458 abstracts of the EANM/WCNMB congress in Berlin and the SNM meeting in Toronto in 1998

The abstracts of the joint congress of EANM/WCNMB in Berlin 1998 and of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine in Toronto 1998 hav e been analysed and compared in terms of comprehensibility, composition, qu estions at issue, methods, patient/subject number, type of conclusion and d uplication of information between the meetings. All 1362 and 1096 abstracts , respectively, were analysed from the abstract books with regard to ten "h ard" and four "soft" variables. The dominant topics were new radiopharmaceu ticals, methods of synthesis, examination methods, evaluation of examinatio ns, investigation algorithms, technical devices and novel use of radiopharm aceuticals. In addition to these topics, there were numerous reports about established radiopharmaceuticals and techniques, often without a specific m erit mentioned. There were also many abstracts with questions outside nucle ar medicine, but using such techniques. Few papers reported negative findin gs or dealt with quality assurance, dosimetry, and cost-effectiveness. Many of the conclusions contained hyperbole. Some abstracts were very extensive and detailed. Sixty-seven contributions conveyed identical in formation at both meetings. Structured and/or paragraphed graphed abstracts promote cla rity and reduce the number of lines that need to be read in order to compre hend the background and aim of the abstract. Such contributions were more f requent at the EANM/WCNMB congress while the SNM meeting covered a wider fi eld with a greater representation of radiophysics, instrumentation, and com puter evaluations.