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On 18 – 20 April 2023, our IRK division participated in the XXXII WORKSHOP of the Czech Association of Interventional Cardiology at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Brno. This is a very prestigious event organized by the Czech Association of Interventional Cardiology under the leadership of Doc. Petr Kala, M.D., Ph.D., FESC and first vice-president Doc. MUDr. Martin Mates, CSc., FESC, which brings together not only Interventional Cardiologists, but due to the increasing interdisciplinary cooperation, also cardiac surgeons and intensivists, nurses and laboratory technicians from cardiac centres across the Czech Republic. A total of 430 participants attended this year’s event.

In addition to the sharing of experiences of individual departments by the presenting physicians, the workshop also included live transmissions of procedures from selected cath labs.

The main topics of the workshop were coronary syndromes, coronary interventions as well as structural valve interventions. There were two keynote addresses in this session, from Prof. Emanuel Barbat, MD – President of the European Association for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (EAPCI) and Prof. Jan Kovac, MD, FACC, FESC Chief of Cardiac Surgery at University Hospitals Leicester, who was one of the first in the world to implant an aortic valve by catheterisation. One of the sessions also covered cardiac supports, the most frequently mentioned of which was our Impella system, which is finding increasing use in cardiology.

At our stand we presented new products from Abiomed, namely the new version of Impella CP with SmartAssist function and also the new Impella 5.5 product with SmartAssist function. This gave doctors the opportunity to experience the innovations and advantages of the new products in simulated conditions.

Furthermore, we participated, as clinical support, in the performance of complex high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention with the support of Impella mechanical cardiac support, which was broadcast live from the catheterization room of St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno, where the audience in the hall could see the benefit of using Impella cardiac support in high-risk complex coronary intervention.

As part of our presentation at the stand, we received interest from cardiac centres that do not yet have this system, so we hope to establish new and successful collaborations with these hospitals.

Division of Interventional Radiology and Cardiology

photo © Czech Society of Cardiology

On 14 April 2023, the VII. Arthroscopy Symposium in Pilsen, where Promedica is traditionally the main partner. This is our largest event in the field of Arthroscopy.

This year, the event was sponsored directly by the Arthroscopy Academy of the Czech Republic under the leadership of the excellent president of the symposium Prof. Petr Zeman, MD, Ph.D., MBA, together with the Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of the Musculoskeletal System of the Charles University in Pilsen. A record 200 doctors from all over the Czech Republic came and it was a real concentration of excellent lectures by leading orthopaedists and physiotherapists!

This year, the symposium focused on the treatment of knee injuries in athletes, especially the treatment of meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Among the main guests, we welcomed the top arthroscopic surgeons from across the country to Pilsen, and we also invited foreign guests – Prof. Tomasz Piontek and Dr. Maciej Karaczun from Poland, Dr. Jan Grauzel from Slovakia and Dr. Lukáš Hanák from Germany, who gave presentations on new procedures in ASK knee treatment.

The lecture day also included a workshop prepared by the orthopaedic division, where doctors could try out the latest meniscus suturing options with Smith+Nephew’s product portfolio and then apply these solutions to their patients.

We are very proud to have the opportunity to be a long-term partner of this event, which has traditionally had great feedback and which brings us extended business with our customers.

Orthopaedics Division

photo © Meritis

On 18 April 2023, the 17th annual regional conference – Nejedlého Kladno took place. Our division has traditionally participated in this symposium. The conference was attended by 90 experts from the ranks of physicians, university analysts and medical laboratory technicians. The one-day seminar was organized by the Clinical Laboratory of Kladno Hospital, the main organizer was the head of the laboratory Ing. Luděk Šprongl and his team. The session took place at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering of the CTU in Kladno.

The program of the event, which is already an integral part of the seminars under the auspices of the Czech Society of Clinical Biochemistry, was again very inspiring and reflected current topics in laboratory medicine. The seminar focused on the use of IT in the modern laboratory, experience with the deployment of artificial intelligence, the issue of alimentary infections or the determination of hsTroponin I on the POCT analyzer (testing of an important cardiac marker directly in the patient).

The conference is organized in honour of the Chief Medical Officer MUDr. Bedřich Nejedlý, one of the founders of the clinical laboratory of the hospital in Kladno and an important expert in laboratory medicine.

Division of Diagnostics

On 3 – 4 April, a workshop on “Laryngeal Surgery” was held under the guidance of Prof. Pavel Kominek, PhD, MBA. The workshop took place in the auditorium of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology Ostrava under the auspices of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of the University Hospital Ostrava, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ostrava and the Czech Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.

The invitation was accepted by foreign and Czech lecturers: Prof. Norbert Kleinsasser (Wuerzburg, Germany), Jürgen Abrams, MD (Hamm, Germany), Niels Abrams, MD (Hamm, Germany), Prof. Viktor Chrobok, MD, PhD (Hradec Králové), Renata Taimrová, MD (Prague) and Michal Zábrodský, MD (Prague).

This year’s workshop was attended by over 50 physicians, with the aim of presenting and discussing everyday but also difficult cases. There were live broadcasts from the operating theatres, with a lot of discussion among the participants and the workshop provided everyone with a lot of new information.

Our cooperation is positively perceived, we have established new relationships with customers and we look forward to the next edition.

ENT-Otorhinolaryngology division

On 18-19 April 2023, the XXIX International Conference on Epidemiology and Hygiene in Brno was held in the well-known premises of the Continental Hotel in Brno. International Conference “Hospital Epidemiology and Hygiene”. Attendance was again very high, as this conference is one of the few where hospital hygienists and epidemiological nurses can meet on both a professional and social level. This year the congress was attended by about 300 participants. The event was under the auspices of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of MU, Prof. MUDr. Martin Repko, Ph.D.

The main topics of the congress were still topical issues of disinfection, development of the epidemiological situation, infections associated with health care, hygiene in catering facilities and many other topics. Lecturers were experts from the Czech Republic as well as from many EU countries.

Promedica was represented at the congress by the Disinfection and Sterilization Division, which presented itself primarily at its stand as a permanent and reliable partner for comprehensive solutions and assistance with product and legislative issues related to disinfection.

The whole conference was very beneficial and it was very pleasant to see familiar faces again and to make new contacts and strengthen existing ones.

Disinfection and Sterilization Division

On March 30, 2023, the Workshop of Ultrasonographic Elastography 2023/I was held in Hotel Golf in Prague with the support of Promedica Institute. The traditional workshop was focused mainly on the basics of ultrasonography related to this topic.

The morning part of the program was devoted to theoretical lectures by MUDr. Kukulský, application specialist at FUJIFILM. In addition, our request to present their experience with this issue was accepted by MUDr. Machková from ISCARE, MUDr. Šmíd from VFN, doc. MUDr. Pavel Taimr from IKEM and MUDr. Dvořák from Regional Hospital Liberec, who was also the expert guarantor of the whole event.

After the theoretical session and a short refreshment, the participants were prepared for the afternoon practical part of the workshop on our three ultrasound machines FUJIFILM Arietta 850, on which the participants could try the classic examination of the abdominal cavity and all types of elastography.

We are very pleased with the interest in this seminar and look forward to future editions. We firmly believe that the knowledge and skills gained, both from the theoretical and practical part, will be beneficial and helpful to the participants during the classical and elastographic examination of patients.

Division of Medical Technologies

For the second time, this time with international participation, the IKEM, headed by Prof. Viklicky and his team, organized the Molecular Medicine in Transplantation conference, which focused on the revolutionary technology of the Molecular Microscope – MMDX, which is used to diagnose transplanted organs (introduced in the IKEM six months ago as the first in Europe and the third in the world after the USA and Canada).

This time it was held on 30th and 31st of March at the Grandior Hotel in the centre of Prague. The turnout was literally world class. All European countries that are involved in transplantation medicine were represented. And from Canada and the USA came colleagues who have been at the forefront of the development and implementation of a new diagnostic technology that is revolutionizing the speed and quality of care for organ transplant patients.

Promedica was proud to be a general partner of the conference. And we are even more pleased that IKEM is the second place in the world (after the USA) where this method is practically used and at the same time fully covered by insurance. Professor Viklicky and Dr. Hrubá thanked us several times for their cooperation and help with the introduction of this unique method.

The whole project was especially appreciated by German and Austrian colleagues who had also tried to introduce this technology – but without success. In this area, IKEM is therefore a great inspiration for Europe, which is further proof of the exceptional position of this institute not only in the Czech Republic and Europe, but also on a global scale.

More details at the link HERE.

Medical Technologies division

photo © IKEM

On 25 March, we supported a workshop held at the Endocrinological Institute on Národní Street in Prague with the loan of an ultrasound machine.

The event started with a theoretical part and after the lectures the participants moved to the examination rooms where they could try out the theoretical information in practice.

The workshop was attended by 30 doctors. The expert guarantor was Dr. Tereza Grimmichová.

The workshop brought us new contacts and the opportunity to show the quality of our ultrasounds at this department. We are very happy that we could participate in the event.

Division of Medical Technologies

The traditional conference Children’s Diabetology 2023, which is dedicated to the staff of pediatric diabetes teams, was held on 24-25 March 2023 at the Duo Hotel in Prague and Promedica was, as last year, a silver partner.

The event was organized by the Section for Pediatric Diabetology of the Czech Society of Pediatric Diabetology J. E. Purkyně and the expert guarantor was Prof. Zdeněk Šumník, M.D. Ph.

This year’s number one topic was screening for type 1 diabetes. This selection reflects the November breakthrough decision by the US FDA to approve teplizumab for the prevention of type 1 diabetes in children over 8 years of age and adults who are in stage 2 of the diabetogenic process. This approval has opened the way for preventive diabetes care, which will undoubtedly expand in the coming years. Much has been made of the ongoing technological revolution, which is giving children with diabetes an increasingly realistic chance of achieving normoglycaemia. While the PPG does not currently offer state-of-the-art technology that monitors glycaemia levels in real time, we are constantly looking for opportunities to engage in this trend. Our current measurements provide the best calibration option for the above systems, which, while moving towards calibration-free, the current systems need a reliable verification option for now, such as the glucose meters we supply.

The conference was attended by nearly 200 pediatric diabetes experts from all over the country. The conference participants consider us and our products to be very reliable. The accessories for practical use of sensor protection offered by ArgoMed were also another “pull” to visit our stand. We are looking forward to the next edition again.

Division of Diabetology

Promedica was awarded as the most successful company in the industry at the Smith & Nephew distributor meeting. The meeting was held in Istanbul from 6-7 February 2023 and brought together nearly 100 participants from Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The two-day meeting was an opportunity for medical equipment distributors to share their experiences and best practices and learn about new developments in the industry. Promedica received four awards (Hip, Knee, ENT, Best Distributor) in recognition of the distributor’s outstanding performance, demonstrating its commitment to providing high quality medical products and services to its clients.

The meeting hosted by Smith & Nephew was an opportunity for distributors to network with each other and gain a deeper understanding of the company’s strategy and vision. Smith&Nephew is a leading medical technology company specialising in orthopaedics, sports medicine, ENT, wound care products and has a strong presence in the Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East regions.

Attending the distributor meeting allowed us to showcase our capabilities and learn from other healthcare distributors in the region. The award that Promedica received is recognition of its commitment to excellence and to providing high quality healthcare products and services to its clients.

“We are honored to be recognized as the top performing distributor of Smith & Nephew products in 2022,” said Jan Kut’ák, Business Development Manager. “It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team and our commitment to providing clients with the best possible healthcare products and services.”