XXXII WORKSHOP OF THE CZECH ASSOCIATION OF INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

9. 5. 2023

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