Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, Rector, in his opening speech, emphasized that UCC MUW hospitals offer a full range of diagnostics and treatment for patients with rare cardiovascular diseases, from birth through adulthood to old age. They have state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, where genetic testing is performed, and modern technologies are used that enable accurate imaging diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. MUW departments perform a full range of therapeutic procedures: highly specialized interventional cardiology procedures, cardiac surgery, ablation procedures for arrhythmia, implantation of pacemakers, arrhythmia recorders and cardioverter-defibrillators. The Rector also stressed that a multispecialty outpatient clinic for families with aortic diseases, providing care for both children and adults, has been established at the UCC MUW. The outpatient clinic will begin operations in January 2023.
The first lecture part was devoted to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The opening lecture of the session was given by Prof. Zofia Bilińska from the National Institute of Cardiology. She presented aspects of hereditary cardiovascular diseases and discussed in detail the hereditary origin of aortopathy.
Krzysztof Ozierański, MD, PhD, from the 1st Department of Cardiology UCC MUW spoke about current diagnostic possibilities and useful tools for stratifying the risk of sudden death in the course of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and Katarzyna Luczak-Woźniak, MD, from the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and General Pediatrics UCC MUW analyzed the course of this disease in children and compared risk factors for sudden death in children and adults.
Michal Marchel, MD, PhD, from the 1st Department of Cardiology UCC MUW, highlighted the key elements of treatment and long-term care for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, as well as genetic counseling and screening in their families. Meanwhile, Radosław Pietrzak, MD, PhD, head of the Electrophysiology and Ablation Laboratory at CCH UCC MUW, discussed the problems of surgical treatment of rhythm and conduction disturbances in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, based on his own experience.
Speakers in the discussion included: Prof. Urszula Demkow, who presented the scope of modern genetic tests performed at the Department of Laboratory Diagnostics MUW, and Prof. Krzysztof Szczałuba, a clinical geneticist, who emphasized the role of close cooperation between units performing diagnostic tests and doctors caring for patients, as clinical information is crucial for reliable test interpretation.
In the session on surgical treatment of patients with cardiomyopathy, a lecture on the role of alcohol ablation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was given by Maciej Dąbrowski, MD, PhD, from the National Institute of Cardiology. The successes of cardiac myectomy in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy based on cases of patients from the UCC MUW were presented by two of our specialists. Mateusz Kuć, MD, PhD, from the Department of Heart, Chest and Transplantation UCC MUW, presented the topic of extended myectomy in the treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by showing a video of the operation. Tomasz Książczyk, MD, PhD, from the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and General Pediatrics UCC MUW, discussed the principles of qualification and results of surgical treatment of children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The lectures were commented on by Prof. Mariusz Kuśmierczyk.
In the session devoted to valvulo-aortopathies, the opening lecture "Genetically determined vascular diseases - own experience" was given by Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong from the Chair and Department of Internal Medicine, Hypertension and Vascular Diseases UCC MUW.
The next speeches focused on aortic diseases in children. Izabela Janiec, MD, PhD, from the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and General Pediatrics UCC MUW, discussed the cardiac care of a child with genetic syndrome and aortopathy, and Michal Buczyński, MD, PhD, from the Department of Heart, Chest and Transplantation UCC MUW, presented cardiac surgical treatment of aortic aneurysms in combination with thoracic plasty (he used images from the surgical field in his presentation).
Finally, Prof. Bożena Werner summarized the clinical and diagnostic-prognostic approach to valvulo-aortopathy based on the new international classification.
Representatives of patient associations spoke in the discussion: "Marfan Poland", "Heart of a Child", "Heart on Banacha", "Foundation for Transplantation - leave your heart on the earth." The conference was summed up by Prof. Piotr Pruszczyk, Vice Rector for Science and Technology Transfer MUW, who emphasized the importance of comprehensive care for families with inherited disorders. This task is part of the activities of the MUW Center of Excellence for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases. Prof. Piotr Pruszczyk congratulated the organizers on the initiative and implementation of the symposium, highly valuing its substantive value and importance for the further development of care for patients with rare diseases.
The symposium "Rare diseases: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and aortopathies in children and adults" was held on December 16 this year under the patronage of His Magnificence the Rector of the Medical University of Warsaw, prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, and the organizers were the MUW Departments: Department of Heart Diseases, Chest and Transplantation, Department of Pediatric Cardiology and General Pediatrics, Chair and Department of Internal Medicine, Hypertension and Vascular Diseases, and the 1st Chair and Department of Cardiology.
