Indo-German Metabolic Meet

The Indo-German Metabolic Meet was organized on the 19th and 20th of September, 2019 as part of the Indo-German Convention of Lindau Alumni-2019.
The meet aims at uniting medical professionals around the country in discussions and presentations related to inborn errors of metabolism

Day 1
The day’s events began with a presentation by Dr. Anil Jalan about Congenital disorders of glycosylation followed by Dr. Vaishali Madkaikar’s presentation on management of diet in disorders of carbohydrate metabolism. This was followed by a brief inaugural ceremony, tea break, and poster viewing.

Then Dr. Uma Maheshwari who works in Sri Ramachandra Center for Excellence in Perinatal Health took on the stage with 2 presentations. The first one was an approach to protein metabolic disorders and the interpretation of laboratory data collected. The second one was an approach to lipid metabolism disorders and the interpretation of laboratory data collected. She introduced the audience to the topic and familiarized them to the nuances of identifying subtle presentations in neonatal blood work. the delegates were then given multiple case scenarios to diagnose and discuss.

Professor Anibh Das from Clinic for Paediatric Nephrology, Hepatology and Metabolic Disorders, Hannover, then presented a comprehensive study of Maple Syrup Urine Disease. It included the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease. He spoke about the cases he’s seen, variation in prognoses, leading to an increasing need for liver transplants. Dr. Anibh, who is also the doctoral guide of Dr. Partha Dabke, is a primary promoter of both IGCLA and IGMM. He has been a strong pillar of support of IGCLA since its inception.
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Dr. Dhanya Lakshmi of KMC Manipal was the last speaker of the morning session. She conducted a riveting talk on lysosomal storage disorders. She began with a brief but thorough introduction to the topic and followed it with relevant clinical presentations, biochemical markers and cases. The meet then broke for lunch

The second half of the day consisted of two workshops and a panel discussion. The first workshop was on emergency management in inborn errors of metabolism. It was held at the state-of-the-art Simulation lab of KMC’s Emergency Medicine Department. The second workshop was held by Dr. Vaishali Madkaikar. It involved dietary management of Maple Syrup Urine Disease with detailed calculation of all the parameters.

The first day’s events came to an end with a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Leslie Lewis, Professor Department of Paediatric Medicine- KMC, Manipal. The panel consisted of Dr. Anibh Das, Dr. Pragna Rao, Dr. Anil Jalan, Dr. Varsha Vaidya, and Dr. Sudheer Moorkoth. Through multiple rounds of deliberation, the panelists educated the audience about inborn errors of metabolism. They spoke of the novel methods available today in the early detection of this spectrum of diseases. They discussed the major roadblocks that India specifically and the world at large is facing with regard to screening, diagnosis, and management of IEMs. The panel ended on a positive note by presenting the need for Indo-German collaborations and how IGMM was a novel initiative in that direction.

Day 2

The day started with a ‘science breakfast’ where all the delegates of the event got to socialize with the day’s speakers and IGCLA team over a sumptuous breakfast at TMA Pai hall-1.

The first speaker of the day, Dr. Chaitanya Datar spoke about carrier screening in IEM. He stressed on detection of recessive disorders and X linked carrier status. Through case scenarios, he explained how India is a land of unique mutations thanks to highly prevalent consanguinity and the caste system. He also explained how the NextGen sequencing is replacing the Sanger method of sequencing.

Dr. Varsha Vaidya then spoke about the genetic basis of diagnosis in pediatric practice. Her presentation stressed on the need for training in collecting critical samples, development of screening tests in IEMs, amniocentesis and chorionic villi sampling. She made her presentation interactive through clinical cases of Glut-1 deficiency at a later age, Sanfillipo syndrome, biotinidase deficiency, glutaric aciduria, etc.

Prof. Dr. Pragna Rao of KMC Manipal then gave a presentation on IEM and the new medical curriculum that stresses more on them. Her immense experience in teaching biochemistry to scores of batches of Manipalites added all the more glamour to the presentation.

Dr. Partha Dabke, a doctoral student at Hannover Medical College, Germany and the visionary who is responsible for IGCLA and IGMM then gave a presentation on the effect of ketogenic metabolites on energy metabolism. Dr. Pragna Rao and Dr. Partha have been primary support to the convention from the time of its inception. Their presentations being successive was a beautiful coincidence.

Dr. Datar, Dr. Jalan, and Dr. Dhanya Lakshmi then took on stage for presentations on Urea Cycle disorders, wrong results in IEM diagnostics and laboratory diagnosis of IEMs respectively. The meet the broke for lunch.

The day’s events and thereby the Indo-German Metabolic Meet concluded with a workshop on exome sequencing by Dr. Sri Lakshmi Bhavani of the Department of Medical Genetics, KMC Manipal followed by a brief closing ceremony. The speakers and delegates then dispersed to get ready for the festivities of the much-awaited ‘Gala Dinner’.