Symposium lectures on-line

Most of the lectures of the Symposium were published on-line. You can find the video presentations at the top of each lecture abstract. We hope to complete the whole on-line program in the near feature.

Pictures of Semmelweis Symposium 2008

You can find the pictures of all the three days of Semmelweis Symposium 2008 here.

Lecture of Prof. Sándor Kovács

You can find the whole video-presentation of Prof. Sándor Kovács at "Lectures" on the following page.

Summary

More than 500 participants from 20 countries attended Semmelweis Symposium 2008. You can find a detailed summary of the event here. A summary of press echo in the Hungarian media you can find here.

Poster abstracts

You can find the poster abstracts of Semmelweis Symposium 2008 here.

Scientific Program - printable version

You can download the printable version of the Scientific Program here.

Cardiovascular pharmacogenomics course

According to the program of Semmelweis Symposium, Peter Pokreisz (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) will give a lecture (in Hungarian) on cGMP regulatory mechanisms in cardiology at 18:00 Wednesday, 26 November.

Abstract submission period extended

The deadline for abstract submission was extended until 18 November 2008. More detailes on the Abstract submission form.

On-line registration

Participation in the program of Semmelweis Symposium 2008 is free.
However, completion the on-line registration form is required to attend the Symposium.

Abstract submission for poster presentation

Abstracts for poster presentation are welcome to the Semmelweis Symposium. Deadline for abstract submission  is 15 November. More detailes on the Abstract Submission Form.

PhD course registration

Semmelweis Symposium 2008 was accredited by the School of Doctoral Studies of Semmelweis University. Students attending all the three days of the Symposium will get 2 PhD credits.

OFTEX registration

Semmelweis Symposium 2008 was registred to the OFTEX system. Colleagues attending all the three days of the Symposium will get 20 OFTEX credits. For detailed information look for SE-TK/2008-07/00383 at www.oftex.hu .

Final program

The final program of the Symposium has been completed. For detailes visit to the Scientific Program pages.

Current trends in Cardiology

This year cardiology is in the focus of Semmelweis Symposium. The members of the Heart Center take the opportunity to kindly invite you to this event.

Purpose: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is an important cause of mortality and sudden cardiac death in patients with ischaemic heart disease. Therapeutic options of VT are anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). If these are uneffective or impair quality of life, catheter ablation (RFA) may be considered. The aim of the study was to evaluate the  acute and long term efficacy of RFA in  the treatment of ischaemic VT.
Methods: 50 postinfarction VT ablations were performed in our institute. Clinical and electrophysiological data of the 43 (3 females) patients were studied. In 17 cases (34%) RFA was performed during incessant VT, in 3 cases (6%) epicardial ablation was also applied. Redo procedure was performed  in six cases, in one case third  was also necessary. Follow-up visits were performed in every 3rd or  6th months. Final follow-up information was collected in all patiens in October 2008.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 67±8  years (50-81). The mean follow-up period was 23±12 months (5-44). 23 patients (53%) had left ventricular aneurysm and 26 patients (60%) underwent percutaneous and/or surgical revascularisation. The prior myocardial infarction localization was anterior in 22 (51%), inferior in 14 (33%) and multiple in 7 (16%) patients. Acute ablation success with noninducibility of the clinical VT was achieved  in 96% of the cases. In three patient epicardial VT was inducible, which was terminated with anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP). In 7 cases (14%) VF (ventricular fibrillation) was inducible. Chronic success was 67%, when it was defined as freedom from any ventricular tachycardia during e follow-up. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 35±8% (21-60). There was a lower LVEF in patients who had VT recurrency (31±4% vs. 37±8%, p="0",036). LVEF above 35% was an independent determinant of chronic success of the procedure (p=0,012). Five patients (12%) died during follow-up, four of them because of progressive heart failure, one because of cancer.
Conclusions: RFA is an effective and successful treatment of postinfarction VT, complication rate is low. Catheter ablation is a recommended method to treat VT in highly specialized and experienced centers, if AADs and ICD therapy are not effective or impair quality of life.