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: Activation of the nitric oxide - soluble guanylate cyclase - cyclic guanosine monophosphate (NO-sGC-cGMP) pathway can induce potent cardioprotection-like effects against ischemia-reperfusion injury. We investigated the effects of pharmacological preconditioning with Cinaciguat (BAY 58-2667), a novel sGC-activator on myocardial and coronary vascular function during reperfusion in a canine model of cardioplegic arrest and extracorporal circulation. Methods: Vehicle- (control group, n="6") and Cinaciguat-pretreated (8.33μg/h iv. for 30min; n="7" low-dose treatment group and 25μg/h iv. for 30min; n="6" high-dose treatment group) anesthetized dogs underwent hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass with 60min of hypothermic cardiac arrest. Left and right ventricular end-systolic pressure volume relationship (ESPVR) was measured by a combined pressure-volume conductance catheter at baseline and after 60min of reperfusion. Left anterior descending coronary blood flow, vasodilatation to acetylcholine and myocardial level of adenosine triphosphate were determined. Results: Compared to control, pharmacological preconditioning with Cinaciguat (25μg/h) led to significantly higher myocardial adenosine triphosphate content, to a better recovery of left and right ventricular contractility (Δ slope of left ventricular ESPVR given as percent of baseline: 102.4±19.1 vs. 56.0±7.1%, p<0.05) and to a higher coronary blood flow (49.6±3.5 vs. 28.0±3.9ml/min, p<0.05). Endothelium-dependent vasodilatory responses to acetylcholine were improved in the treatment groups. Conclusions: Preconditioning with Cinaciguat improves myocardial and endothelial function after cardiopulmonary bypass with hypothermic cardiac arrest. The observed protective effects imply that pharmacological sGC-activation could be a novel therapeutic option in the protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury in cardiac surgery.