The conference is aimed at students and young doctors interested in cardiology. It is an opportunity to expand knowledge and for substantive discussion with experts. It was organized for the fifth time by the Student Scientific Circle (SKN) at the 1st Chair and Department of Cardiology and the SKN Zator at the Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology with the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Venous Thromboembolism.
The symposium opened with a lecture by Prof. Marcin Grabowski, head of the 1st Chair and Department of Cardiology UCC MUW, under the title "AD 2050 - Quo vadis cardiology?", and the discussion was moderated and enriched by expert commentary from Prof. Piotr Pruszczyk, Vice Rector for Science and Technology Transfer MUW, Prof. Grzegorz Opolski and Prof. Bożena Werner.
Topics of the fifth edition of the conference "More Than a Heart Attack"
The first session was devoted to cases of rare diseases with cardiac involvement. Is pulmonary hypertension one disease or many different ones? Are neuromuscular diseases a neurological or a cardiac problem? Are cardiac complications the most important in giant obesity? These topics were addressed by session speakers Dr. Olga Dzikowska-Diduch, Piotr Birenias, MD, PhD, and Justyna Domienik-Karłowicz, MD, PhD, from the Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology of the Infant Jesus Clinical Hospital UCC MUW.
Another session concerned heart failure, a clinical syndrome in which the main symptoms include shortness of breath, ankle swelling and fatigue. These symptoms may be accompanied by elevated jugular venous pressure, crackles over the lungs and peripheral edema. Failure is most often due to myocardial dysfunction, but abnormalities can also include the valves, pericardium and endocardium, as well as rhythm and conduction abnormalities. What did the experts talk about during their lectures? About the patient's eligibility for heart transplantation, LVAD therapy, and palliative care as part of comprehensive care for heart failure patients. And also about the fact that the next step in heart failure therapy is telemonitoring of implantable devices.
The experts were: Dr. Anna Słowikowska from the Department of Heart, Chest and Transplant Surgery MUW, Prof. Tomasz Zieliński, head of the Department of Heart Failure and Transplantation at the Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski National Institute of Cardiology, Prof. Tomasz Pasierski from the Department of Medical Ethics and Palliative Medicine MUW, and Jakub Kosma Rokicki, MD, from the 1st Chair and Department of Cardiology UCC MUW.
The last session focused on congenital heart defects, with which about 3,000 children are born each year in Poland. The defects are more often seen in premature and low-weight newborns. The experts in this session therefore discussed intrauterine treatment of fetal heart defects, clarified whether all congenital heart defects require correction, and answered the question of whether only a pediatrician can come across a patient with a congenital heart defect.
The lecturers were: Marzena Dębska, MD, PhD, Michał Buczyński of the Department of Pediatric Cardiology UCC MUW, and Prof. Agata Bielecka-Dąbrowa, head of the Department of Cardiology and Adult Congenital Defects at the Institute of the Polish Mother's Memorial Health in Łódź.
Workshops
The conference was a training event, so the organizers also prepared workshops on advanced life support (ALS), echocardiography, ECG and training using an ablation simulator and VR goggles. More than 80 people had the opportunity, among other things, to try their hand at simulating cardiac emergencies, perfecting their skills in instrumented airway protection and performing the FAST protocol. Participants in the echocardiography workshops learned the basics of cardiac ultrasound and the important parameters measured during ECHO. And through the use of an ablation/PCI/pacemaker implantation simulator and VR goggles, it was possible to feel as if they were in the operating room during ablation, coronary angiography, pacemaker implantation and myocardial biopsy procedures.
The workshops were held thanks to the MIRO company, which provided 4 echocardiography machines, as well as the kindness and commitment of many employees, doctors and students of MUW: Karolina Jasińska-Gniadzik, MD, Dr. Anna Fojt, Michał Kowary, MD, Martyna Kuryła, MD, Dr. Mateusz Jermakow, Piotr Lodziński, MD, PhD, and students of SKN Ankona B and the student circles organizing the Conference.
The event was held under the honorary patronage of Rector of MUW Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong. Patronage was also extended to: Vice Rector for Student Affairs and Education MUW, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine MUW, MUW Student Scientific Society, Parliament of Students of the Republic of Poland, 30 PTK Club, Institute of the Polish Mother's Health Center, PTK Warsaw Branch and Polish Medical Association.
