NIKard Spring Scientific Symposium - registration is still open!

The scientific program of this year's spring edition of the Symposium, which is organized at the NIKard headquarters (Alpejska 42 Street, Warsaw-Anin), promises to be extremely interesting. It will cover, among others, modern areas of cardiology such as the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure - from pharmacotherapy to transplantation, and the treatment of coronary artery disease and valvular defects. There will also be topics devoted to modern diagnostic imaging in cardiology, and NIKard specialists will share with participants their experience in robotics and medical simulation. The program will also include sessions on epidemiology and pharmacotherapy of cardiovascular diseases, as well as elements of clinical genetics. A new feature will be a session on vascular surgery and intervention in the treatment of aortic and peripheral vascular pathology. Discussions will be supplemented by numerous case studies showing the practical side of the clinical cases discussed.

- When organizing this event, we place special emphasis on the practical dimension of the planned thematic sessions and the opportunity to meet with doctors, nurses and other specialists who cooperate with the Institute. I am convinced that participation in this meeting will provide participants with the necessary knowledge of the latest trends and directions of development of Polish cardiology. I cordially invite you to participate and encourage you to exchange common experiences," said Professor Lukasz Szumowski, director of the National Institute of Cardiology.

The symposium will begin with a keynote lecture dedicated to answering key questions posed by PCPs and cardiologists regarding the piloting of the National Cardiovascular Network and the implementation of the National Cardiovascular Disease Program (NCCD) - tasks carried out by the NIKard as a National Research Institute.

Going forward, the meeting agenda includes as many as 7 thematic sessions. The first will be on the prevention of cardiovascular events (1), during which experts will discuss why Poland is a high-risk country for cardiovascular events and how this risk should be reduced. The main topic of the second session will be imaging (2), which is key to optimal patient care. This part will discuss the diagnostic capabilities of a reference center such as the National Institute of Cardiology and the advantages of using modern imaging methods. During the third session, experts will discuss heart failure and transplantation (3) - phenotypes, diagnosis and management. They will also try to answer the question of whether classical clinical management of a patient with heart failure is sufficient, and how to optimize diagnosis and treatment in this area.

Robotic navigation and new forms of energy application in transcatheter ablation, as well as the future of implantable devices, will be discussed by experts in the fourth block entirely devoted to arrhythmias (4). Much space will also be devoted to discussing the "pitfalls" of tachycardiomyopathy, dilemmas in electrotherapy, as well as pharmacotherapy for rare arrhythmogenic diseases, and new treatments for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In turn, the fifth session will focus on valvular defects (5). Here, issues related to tricuspid bioprosthesis dysfunction and infective endocarditis will be discussed. The difficult clinical problem of asymptomatic aortic valve stenosis will also be discussed. In addition, the case of a patient with heart failure in the course of mitral and tricuspid regurgitation will be analyzed. Conference participants will also learn about the prospects of modern treatment of atrioventricular valvular regurgitation of the heart.

The Symposium will also address issues related to cardiovascular interventions and vascular surgery (6). In this part, participants will learn how to improve cooperation between family physicians and the Vascular Surgery Clinic. Among other things, cases will be presented on the treatment of patients with heart failure and indications for coronary revascularization, as well as cases of patients qualified for PCI with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).

The meeting will conclude with a session on congenital heart defects (7), during which panelists will discuss ways to treat a condition such as atrial septal defect and what to do when it is too late for surgery. Experts will also address issues related to the morphological diversity of the defect versus its clinical significance, and pulmonary hypertension in leaky defects. 



This is the first NIKard Symposium to be held in a hybrid format. For the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held exclusively in an online format. The Polish Society of Cardiology is a partner of the event (8 PTK educational points). Media patrons of the conference are: Medexpress.pl, rynekzdrowia.pl, mZdrowie.pl and cowzdrowiu.pl.

Detailed program and registration for participants:

https://www.wiosennesympozjum.pl