Soledad Monges is a paediatric neurologist and Chair of the Department of Neurology at Hospital de Pediatría in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As one of our speakers at WMS 2024, we decided to find out more about Soledad.
Soledad graduated from the Medical School at the University of Buenos Aires in 1993. After completing her paediatric residency at the National Hospital Prof. Alejandro Posadas, she went on to do a paediatric neurology residency and a fellowship in neuromuscular disorders at Hospital de Pediatría Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan. In 2006, she joined the staff of the department of neurology, and since 2023 has been Chair of the Department. She has also served as the director or co-director for various fellowship and masters degrees and has worked with numerous parent groups to provide new treatments for children in underserved situations and to make an impact at the population level.
As one of our invited speakers on the topic of neuromuscular disorders around the world, we are particularly interested in Soledad’s perspective of working in a country where the field of neuromuscular disorders is less developed than in some of the other countries we work in.
We asked Soledad what led her to follow a career in myology in particular, she says: “I began specializing in neuromuscular diseases during the summer school on Myology at the Institute of Myology in Paris. I had the opportunity to work on an exchange project between France and Argentina, focusing on the clinical, genetic, and morphological characterisation of congenital myopathies to assess phenotype-genotype correlations with Dr. Analia Taratuto.
“I met Dr. Norma Romero, who taught me how to think when you have a patient suspected of having a neuromuscular disease. She shared her passion with me. In addition, I had the opportunity to visit Hospital Poincaré in Garche, France with Dr. Barois and Dr. Quijano-Roy, where I realised that there are a lot of aspects to consider in the care of patients with neuromuscular diseases, from making an accurate diagnosis to achieving a comprehensive approach to patient care during their disease.
“Back home, I created a Clinic for Neuromuscular Diseases and subsequently became the coordinator of a multidisciplinary programme for the care, teaching, and research of patients with neuromuscular diseases. Later, I worked on an exchange project between Spain and Argentina developing the genetic characterisation of patients with spinal muscular atrophy in Argentina.”
As a paediatric neurologist, Soledad has a particular interest in the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular diseases in children, including congenital muscular dystrophies, congenital myopathies, congenital myasthenic syndrome, limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (especially laminopathies), spinal muscular atrophy and inflammatory myopathies/neuropathies. She has participated as a principal investigator in numerous clinical trials for the diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy and is currently working on national and international collaborative projects.
Soledad actively participates in the Latin American Summer School of Myology (EVELAM). She develops courses with easy access from different places in Latin America and receives fellows at her centre to train in neuromuscular diseases.
When describing the challenges she has faced, Soledad talks about one patient in particular, she says: “She was a patient of approximately 13 years old who started acutely with focal weakness of the upper and lower limbs, which progressed to generalised weakness and respiratory insufficiency. We made the diagnosis of FHL1 myopathy. Over the years I was able to accompany her during her illness, visited her at her home, and accompanied her at the time of her death. She showed me what it means to take care of patients with neuromuscular diseases: a diagnostic challenge, a prolonged disease accompanied by multiple and complex comorbidities, and the opportunity to support patients and their families at the end of life.”
Soledad also talks about the challenges working across the Latin American region, saying: “the most significant challenges in the region are related to inequalities in medical care and access to treatment, with some areas being very poor and others highly developed, which is exacerbated by fluctuating economic conditions, government ideologies, the large size of the countries, and internal differences. Additionally, in the region there is lack of necessary resources for large parts of the population. Many doctors also have difficulties in access to specialised training.”
Despite these challenges, Soledad loves working with patients with neuromuscular disorders: “Each patient represents a challenge, from diagnosis to the possibility of receiving specific treatment. It is an area in constant development, where the semiological characteristics of the patient are as important as complementary studies (EMG, BP, molecular studies, MRI). It is like a puzzle where each piece is needed to arrive at a specific treatment. In recent years, the increase in knowledge of the pathophysiology, based on the discovery of new genes, has led to the search for specific treatments.
“The developing science requiring a detailed semiological approach and an interdisciplinary strategy, which provides us with the opportunity to collaborate with other departments for comprehensive patient follow-up inspires me to continue working with neuromuscular patients.”
Soledad believes networking is a very useful and necessary tool to increase the knowledge of these diseases and values the WMS community for providing her with a translational and updated perspective on neuromuscular diseases each year.
Soledad Monges will be speaking at WMS 2024 on Thursday 10th October between 09:30 and 11:00.
This article is presented by the
Education & Development Opportunities Committee.
Published on 25 July 2024.