Innovations in minimally invasive cardiac surgery were the focus of the Cardiac Surgery Forum-Varna, which was held from 26th to 28th October at UMHAT "St. Marina", in partnership with MU-Varna. The event was dedicated to the 18th anniversary of the establishment of the Cardiac Surgery Clinic at University Hospital–Varna and was attended by eminent Bulgarian specialists and guest lecturers from abroad.
Innovative approaches and current trends in the surgical treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases were among the wide scope of topics discussed. The specialists presented their expertise in clinical practice and discussed new techniques in the field of minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
Guests at the event were leading specialists with a major contribution to the development of cardiac surgery in Varna over the years, including the national consultant in cardiac surgery Prof. Dr. Gencho Nachev and the cardiac surgeon at Sana Hospital–Stuttgart Dr. Ventsislav Sheytanov. The international participation was presented by the head of the Cardiac Surgery Department at Hygeia Hospital–Greece Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aristotelis Panos and Prof. Dr. Jeno Szolnoky–Hungary. For 15 years now, Prof. Szolnoky has been assisting the Cardiac Surgery Clinic at UMHAT "St. Marina" for upgrading minimally invasive surgeries to a higher level.
Four surgeries were performed in cooperation with visiting doctors and broadcast on-line in real time. Among them was a cardiac intervention, which was broadcast live from Milan and performed by Prof. Dr. Mattia Glauber - head of the Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Department at the Instituto Clinico Sand Ambrogio.
At the opening of the forum, the head of the Cardiac Surgery Clinic Prof. Dr. Plamen Panayotov brought to the fore that the event was targeted at demonstrating the expertise and achievements of prominent surgeons in diagnosis and treatment of cardiac diseases. "Specialists tend to have a different style of work and their own approach to problems. I believe that the theoretical presentations and the shared expertise are indispensable for every specialist and especially for the students", underlined Prof. Panayotov.
In his congratulatory speech to the participants, the Rector of MU-Varna Prof. Dr. Svetoslav Georgiev laid stress on the importance of the forum both for cardiac surgery specialists in Bulgaria and for the development of young scientists and doctors at the University. Prof. Georgiev emphasised that the minimally invasive approach in heart surgery had helped plenty of patients to recover quickly and to significantly improve their quality of life.
The national consultant in cardiac surgery Prof. Dr. Gencho Nachev outlined the challenges in modern cardiac surgery. "The future is in creating artificial hearts! Obvious results have already been achieved in this area. This will give a chance of life to people with chronic heart failure, as donor transplantation is limited worldwide."
Approximately 7 700 major heart surgeries have been performed since the establishment of the Cardiac Surgery Clinic at University Hospital “St. Marina"–Varna.
