A surgeon from the Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University, Dr. Jacek Kołcz, MD, PhD has been awarded the prestigious award of the European Society of Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons (EACTS).
This is the highest professional award in the environment of doctors dealing with heart defects, the spokeswoman of the University Children’s Hospital Magdalena Oberc told PAP.
The Society awarded the Congenital Heart Surgery Investigator Award for the medical achievements to date and scientific work on the issue of single-chamber heart, one of the most serious birth defects in children.
The work of Dr. Jacek Kołcz is the result of the last three years of his scientific activity. The research, partially funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as part of a government grant, had not only cognitive but also practical significance. They concerned the group of the most severe congenital heart defects, in which a human being has only one ventricle after birth.
One of the most common defects of this type is Left Heart Hypoplasia Syndrome (HLHS). In the years 2007-2010, nearly 100 children with HLHS were operated on at the clinic in Krakow. Treatment is difficult, multi-stage, requiring a lot of resources and advanced technologies.
According to the spokeswoman, the awarded work was presented at the 24th Congress of the Society in Geneva, which was held on September 11-15. It aroused great interest due to the innovative aspect of the publication. The doctors from Krakow described the indicators that allow to predict even before the surgery whether the patient will be at risk of possible complications and to prevent them at the stage of planning the procedure. The discovery was widely commented on at Congress.
The discussion confirmed once again that Poland is the undisputed leader in the treatment of children with HLHS. It should be remembered that the first operation of this type in Europe was carried out years ago at the University Children’s Hospital in Krakow. It was carried out by prof. William I. Norwood, an outstanding cardiac surgeon (creator of this operating method), who came to Krakow at the invitation of the then head of the Clinic, prof. Eugenia Zdebska. Later, this method was continued by prof. Edward Malec, currently prof. Janusz Skalski – said Magdalena Oberc.
The implementation of the latest achievements in this field by the Clinic’s team has resulted in very good treatment results, which, among other things, has been appreciated by the European Society of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) – emphasized the spokeswoman.
Hundreds of scientific papers from all over Europe and America are submitted to EACTS each year, but the prize is awarded irregularly. This year, EACTS by rewarding the work of dr. Kołcza thus appreciated the achievements of the entire Clinic in the treatment of children with single-chamber hearts. This is a great distinction and a huge success – emphasizes the head of the Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University, prof. Janusz Skalski. In his opinion, this is a tangible proof that Polish cardiac surgery is at the highest world level. (PAP)