APAMT 2018 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINE

The APAMT Abstract Review Committee chaired by Dr Rose Cairns (Australia) will evaluate each
abstract. All abstracts accepted for presentation at the Congress will be published in Clinical Toxicology,
the official journal of the EAPCCT, AACT, AAPCC and APAMT. The Committee’s decision will be final.

Abstracts must be submitted electronically via the online portal on or before 15th August 2018. The
instructions given below must be adhered to and incomplete abstracts will be rejected.

If you require English language assistance, please inform to our e-mail (contactapamt@gmail.com) and
submit your abstract before 15th August 2018. The Committee will attempt to support you.

Abstracts received after 15th August 2018 will not be considered.

Please write in comment column type of abstract whether it is a poster (case report) or an oral
presentation

If you do not have access to the Internet, or you encounter technical problems that prevent you from
submitting online, please contact the Congress Secretariat who will provide advice.

E-mail: apamt2018@gmail.com

Abstract format
These instructions highlights general guidance although the electronic submission tool will format much
of your abstract automatically. However, you are strongly advised to pre-prepare your abstract, using
the guidance below, before attempting to submit your work online, since each online session is time-
limited. You need upload the word copy of the same abstract online as well.

Please note: Graphs and other figures are not permitted.

Authors should be listed as Given Name (without middle initials) followed by last name

Qualifications and positions are not to be included

If an author has more than one abstract, please be consistent when entering the name for each
abstract, as multiple versions of the same name cause difficulties with the author index.

The affiliation must comprise ONLY department name, institution and country.

The body of the abstract should be organized as outlined below.

Objective: A statement of the purpose or reason for the report.

Methods: A brief description of the study design.

Results: A summary of the results presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusion. Data must be
presented in the abstract. Statements such as “the results will be presented” or “other data will be
presented to support....” will result in automatic rejection of the abstract.

Conclusion: A statement of the overall findings of the research based on the stated objective and data
presented.

References: All references (if any) should appear at the end of the abstract in numerical order as they
appear in the text. Ensure references are cited in the text by bracketed numbers [1,2]. Follow the
referencing style below. In general the number of references used should be limited to 5 or less.
References are included in the word count.

References for Journal articles should be formatted as in the following example: Giannini L, Vannacci
A, Missanelli A, et al. Amatoxin poisoning: a 15-year retrospective analysis and follow-up evaluation of
105 patients. Clin Toxicol. 2007; 45:539-42.
 References for Book chapters should be formatted as follows: Goadsby PJ. Pathophysiology of
headache. In: Silberstein SD, Lipton RB, Dalessio DJ, editors. Wolff's headache and other head pain. 7th
ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2001. p. 57-72.

For case reports, the words “Case report:” replace the “Methods: and Results:” headings. Otherwise,
the format remains the same.

Reports of non-clinical studies, such as those describing poisons centre operations or educational
tools should attempt to follow these guidelines as closely as possible.

Word limit: The number of words is limited strictly to 400 (if the abstract does not include a table).
This word count does not include the title, authors and affiliations, but does include the references. Each
word or number is counted as one word whether it is one character or 10 characters long (The previous
sentence has a word count of 18).

Use of tables is limited to one simple table with a title. If a table is included in your abstract, the word
limit is 300 words (including references, but not including title, authors and affiliations).

Figures and graphs/diagrams are not allowed.

Please do NOT use automatic Word functions, e.g. numbering, bullet points or footnotes.

Other general instructions to improve the abstract

Explain in your abstract why the information is novel, unusual or adds something useful.

Make your title descriptive of the subject of the abstract.

You MUST use the headings suggested above.

Explain all but the most common abbreviations (e.g. BP, Temp, pCO2) the first time they occur in the
text.

Make sure all symbols are easily identifiable.

Include data (i.e. numerical results) in the abstract.

Make sure your conclusions can be justified from the data you have provided.

Include references to published papers, if appropriate (not more than 5). Note: They will be included
in the word count.

Add suitable keywords both online and in the abstract so that the interested reader can find the
abstract.
Notification of abstract receipt

The online submission tool will allocate your abstract a unique identification number. Please note this
for your own records.

Emails will be sent at the end of online submission to confirm receipt of your submission. We
recommend you keep a copy of this for your records.

Please note that after successful online submission it is NOT necessary to provide documentation by
mail or email.

Submitters will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their abstract by email by the 4th
September 2018. Please ensure your email details are entered correctly in the online abstract
submission tool.

All abstract presenters must register for the Congress by 17th and 18th November 2018. Failure to do
so will result in the abstract being withdrawn.

Sample abstract, for illustrative purposes:

In vivo efficacy and pharmacokinetics of a new Sri Lankan antivenom for Hump-nosed Viper (Hypnale
spp) bites - A preliminary dosing study

Nandita Mirajkar1, Ruwan Premathilake2, Jose Maria Gutierrez3, Indika Gawarammana2, Geoff
Isbister1,2

1Clinical Toxicology Research Group, University of Newcastle, Australia

2South Asia Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration (SACTRC), Faculty of Medicine, University of
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

3Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the in vivo efficacy of a new antivenom for hump-nosed viper
(Hypnale) envenomation at two different doses. In addition, it aimed to determine the pharmacokinetics
and safety of the antivenom.

Methods: Twenty suspected hump-nosed viper bites were recruited from patients presenting to
Peradeniya Hospital. The first ten patients were administered 2 vials and the second ten 5 vials of
antivenom. Demographic information, identification of the snake and clinical effects were recorded.
Blood was collected before antivenom administration, then 2h, 4h, 6h, 12h, 18h, 24h, 2d, 3d, 4d, 5-6d
and 2 weeks post-antivenom. Venom and antivenom concentrations were measured in blood with
venom specific enzyme immunoassay as previously described.(1) The primary outcome was the in vivo
efficacy of the antivenom defined as binding all free venom detected in blood, after antivenom
administration. Adverse effects to antivenom were defined according to the Brown Grading system.

Results: Of the 20 patients (median age 54y [16-70y]; 16 males) only ten patients had hump-nosed viper
venom detected prior to antivenom administration. All patients had local effects of envenomation, but
no coagulopathy or acute kidney injury occurred. The median venom concentration in the ten patients
was 5.1ng/ml (0.8 to 30.4ng/ml). No free venom was detected post-antivenom in any patient up to two
weeks post-administration. Antivenom was detected in all 20 patients and the timed antivenom
concentration data best fitted a one-compartment model with a median elimination half-life of 22h
(interquartile range: 13 to 36h). 13 patients (65%) developed systemic hypersensitivity reactions which
resulted in severe anaphylaxis in six cases (30%).

Conclusion: The new Sri Lankan antivenom appeared to bind all free antivenom at both doses in patients
with confirmed hump-nosed viper bites. Adverse reactions occurred in over half and severe anaphylaxis
in almost a third. The pharmacokinetics were consistent with other snake antivenoms with a long
elimination half-life.

Keywords: Antivenom, Viper, Snake venom, Efficacy, Adverse effects

References

(1) Maduwage K, Isbister GK, Silva A, et al. Epidemiology and clinical effects of hump-nosed pit viper
(Genus: Hypnale) envenoming in Sri Lanka. Toxicon. 2013 61:11-5.
Presentation

Oral Presentation Format:

All presentations should be in Powerpoint. Conference venues contain digital projectors for data and
video projection, including DVD clips. Any other special audio-visual requests should be directed to the
Conference Organisers.

Time Allocation:

All presentations are to be 15 minutes long including question time for general submission papers & 20
minutes for invited speakers. Time allotted for presentations will be strictly observed in order to
maintain the integrity of the conference schedule/timetable and to allow delegates to move between
talks for concurrent sessions. Session chairpersons will give 2 minutes’ notice to indicate the end of your
presentation time.

Speakers Support & Upload Procedure:

All presentation slides are to be uploaded in the Speakers Room, at least 1 session break before your
talk, or preferably the day prior to your talk.

If you are unable to upload your slides in time at the Speakers Room in time, please bring your
presentation to the respective rooms as soon as possible.

Poster Presentation & Information:

The recommended poster size is Standard A0 size (1189 mm high by 841 mm wide), portrait
orientation.All posters will be allocated a number and a hanging space. Posters must be hung at the
designated area in the conference venue. Velcro will be provided. Timing for posters to be hung & the
respective poster sessions will be announced shortly.

Abstract submission will be closed at June 30th 2018

Guidelines for Preparation of Free Oral Presentations

Presentations should be made using MS PowerPoint (file extension .ppt or .pptx) format.

All presentations should be in LANDSCAPEformat and size: on screen 4:3 ratio

Each presentation will be limited to 12 minutes followed by 3 minutes for questions.

Please hand in the soft copy of your presentation to the session coordinator/help desk at the venue 6-24
hours prior to the scheduled presentation.

If you wish to email, please email to apamt2018@gmail.com

Guidelines for Preparation of Posters

A printed copy of your poster has to be fixed to the display board provided at the venue :

The display board for each poster will be 120 cm high and 90 cm wide.

The Title, Names of Author/s, and their affiliation should be indicated at the top of the poster.

The lettering of the title should be at least 3 cm high and the name/s of author/s and their institutional
affiliations should be at least 2 cm high.

The text and illustration of the poster should be readable from a distance of about 1 m (font size:
minimum 20 pt). Use upper and lower case for general content, as all –capital text is difficult to read.
Avoid using mixture of fonts.

Make sure to correctly reference any images that you use. Tables and charts should be labeled properly
in order to enhance the visibility.

Accessories to mount the posters will be available at the registration desk.

Posters should be displayed all 3 days and presenting author should be available during the breaks of
day 1 of the congress (16thNovember 2018)

Guidelines for Preparation of e-Posters

Poster should fit to a size 42 inch 1080p monitor :

Width – 15 inches Height – 8.4 inches

Margins (safe zone) – 0.5 inches on all slides

Ratio 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)

Orientation – Landscape

Poster Format – .ppt, .pptx or .JPEG

Include the EP number on the top right hand corner of the poster (Font: size 18, Bold)

Should not exceed three slides (excluding the title slide) and arrange the content as background,
objectives, method, results, conclusion (acknowledgment, if applicable)

Should follow two column format conveniently dividing the sections as background, objectives, method,
results, conclusion

You can use multimedia content showing animations, simulations and etc.

Send you e-poster to eposter@apamt2018.orgon or before 3rd of November 2017

General Formatting Guidelines

Use the following formatting to prepare your presentation :

Font – Arial, Calibri

Title Text– Minimum font size 40pt

Headings/Sub-headings– Minimum font size 36pt

Layout – Landscape orientation

Hyperlinks– Not allowed

Audio– Not supported

Images format – High resolution in .tiff, .gif, .jpeg and .bmp

Slide Transitions– No effects between slides nor text/images transition within slides