Convenor: Stan Plevnik
Scientific Chair: David Vodusek
The meeting was held from 7th - 9th September 1989 at the Cankarjev Dom-Cultural and Congress Centre, Ljubljana.
In the ICS Newsletter in 1989, Paul Abrams noted: “The atmosphere of the meeting was established on the first morning by a far sighted and courageous speech by the President of Slovenia, Professor Janez Stanovnik; his speech gave a preview of the thinking prevalent as Eastern Europe looked to the future, and anticipated the exciting changes that were subsequently seen in East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Stan Plevnik, the Chairman of our meeting in Ljubljana, dealt admirably with all the problems that a changing social and economic environment causes to an international meeting.”
The Welcome Ceremony was held in the Large Hall of Cankarjev Dom, and addressed by the President of Slovenia, Janez Stanovnik. This was followed by a visit to the Postojna Cave, a system of underground galleries with marvellous stalactites and stalagmites, which represent one of the most beautiful natural sites of Europe, with short cultural programme in the Chrystal Hall of the Postojna Cave, followed by a banquet.
The Gala Dinner was a formal dinner served in the main lobby of Cankarjev Dom followed by the acknowledgment speeches, music and dance.
A special emphasis of the meeting was on Neurogenic Micturition Disorders, Clinical Neurophysiology and Pharmacology.
Scientific Programme: Of 241 submitted contributions, 91 were chosen for presentation. Short thought -provoking commentaries were invited as introductions to the selected sessions to highlight some of the less common areas of the Society's field of interest at that time:
- Session-Neurogenic Micturition Disorders, Introduction: A.R.Mundy
- Session-Clinical Neurophysiology, Introduction: D.B.Vodušek
- Session-Pharmacology, Introduction: A. Mattiasson.
Stan Plevnik was a regular contributor to ICS. He joined Peter Suhel’s team in 1973. Following the pioneering work of his co-worker Ciril Godec (urologist) Plevnik adapted the concept of short- term, in-clinic, strong(maximum) electrical stimulation, for short-term home use for urinary incontinence. Later, he pursued an interest in urethral resistance and had developed the weighted vaginal cones as a method of assessing and improving the strength of the pelvic muscles. He introduced a new concept of measuring urethral resistance by the use of the urethral electric conductance with colleague Janez Janez. A few years later, David B Vodušek (clinical neurophysiologist) and Janez Janez (urologist) also became very active in the electrophysiology of the human pelvic floor.