General Introduction

Abstract

When the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) celebrated its 25th anniversary, the occasion was marked by a booklet commemorating the origins and its founders and included personal recollections of the circumstances of its coming into existence in 1958. When our society reached its 25th year during the eminently successful Montreux meeting splendidly organized by Daniel Nusslé, this date unfortunately went unmarked. Therefore it is high time to record some historical facts and events that led to the foundation of the European Society of Paediatric Radiology (ESPR) and to focus on the origins of paediatric radiology in the different European countries. The London meeting in 1993, the 30th anniversary of the ESPR, appears to be the logical moment to put together such a book of historical sketches. At the international congress of paediatric radiology in Stockholm, the Co-President Hans Ringertz and the Secretary General Gabriel Kalifa immediately supported this idea and a meeting was organized bringing together the prospective authors. At that time we discussed the matter and it was felt that the focus should be on the early developments of paediatric radiology in the different countries with reference to the period prior to and at the time of foundation of the ESPR. When the group met again in Budapest in 1992, the manuscript on Scandinavia by O. Eklöf and U. Rudhe was distributed as an outline.