Warsaw Academic Cardiology Days - from Askanas School to the latest research and guidelines

Prof. Zdzislaw Askanas, is a well-known cardiologist, professor of medicine and founder of the famous Warsaw Academic School of Cardiology. The school continues to be developed today by successive generations of scientists and clinicians. It has produced many generations of outstanding cardiologists - heads of clinics and heads of cardiology departments in Warsaw. On June 4, at the MUW Didactic Center, a session dedicated to WASC was held, which brought together the professor's students and the continuators of his ideas.

The first part of the session was devoted to the history of the First Chair and Department of Cardiology of the UCC MUW. The unit was established in 1953 and at that time was called the 4th Department of Internal Medicine. It was located in the Infant Jesus Hospital. Its founder and first director was Prof. Zdzislaw Askanas. The first in Poland, and one of the first in Europe, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit was organized in the Department. It produced pioneering work in cardiac electrostimulation. The department's specialists worked out a "Polish model" of post-myocardial infarction rehabilitation and developed a method of registering the incidence of heart attack, adopted as a model in world research. In 1986 the department was moved to the clinical hospital in Banacha Street. While the first part of the session was a journey into the past, the second part dealt with the modern teaching of cardiology from the perspective of students, academic staff and the rector’s authorities of our university. Opinions were shared by: Dr Katarzyna Tymińska-Sędek, Prof. Jerzy Korewicki, Dr Marian Pieniak, Prof. Grzegorz Opolski, Prof. Marek Kuch, Prof. Artur Mamcarz, Prof. Andrzej Budaj, Prof. Marcin Grabowski, Prof. Michał Ciurzyński, Dr Andrzej Ostrzycki, Paweł Balsam, MD, PhD, and medical student Maciej Mazurek.

The session was part of the XXII Warsaw Academic Cardiology Days - a symposium during which the best Polish specialists present the most important scientific reports on cardiology standards. - We are pleased that after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic we could finally return to the organization of subsequent Warsaw Academic Cardiology Days. This is an event with a long and rich tradition, which dates back to 1999 - says Prof. Marcin Grabowski, Head of the 1st Chair and Department of Cardiology of the UCC MUW - the main organizer of the conference.

The symposium was opened by Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw, who, together with the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine MUW, Prof. Rafał Krenke, gave the conference the honorary patronage. The two-day symposium discussed the latest guidelines and research on the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The program also included workshop sessions, student paper session and a session under the auspices of the Polish Society of Pharmacology. The conference was attended by over 450 participants.