May 22-24, 2019 were days filled with new insights and up to date information for clinicians to help them diagnose heart diseases. The Philips Educational symposium, an event organized every other year by Philips Česká republika, focused on CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging of the heart, both in adults and children.
“Sharing the latest diagnostic information, innovations in imaging technologies as well as learning from the experts is key to enabling clinicians make fast and secure diagnosis”, says Petr Ouředníček, head of MR imaging at Philips and author of the symposium program.
Over 60 participants, mainly radiologists and cardiologists, were very satisfied with the 2 day meeting, pointing out it was both professionally enriching and rich in networking and socializing with their peers.
“The main examination of patients with suspected or confirmed cardiovascular disease is still performed with echocardiography. It brings basic information on the diagnosis, on the progress of the disease, it is our main source of information”, says Dr. Roman Panovsky, cardiology researcher from ICRC FNUSA in Brno. “But when we started using the magnetic resonance for diagnosing heart diseases, it was a great breakthrough, the images are clearer and easier to measure and process. It is truly revolutionary, the magnet brings completely new information. Echocardiography can determine volumes, sizes and functions of the heart valves, magnetic resonance adds characteristics of the tissue, it enables us to look into the myocardial tissue and to differentiate the pathologies, it enables us to measure more parameters, differentiate fat from tissue, there are a lot of advantages in magnetic resonance that echocardiography will never have.”
Approximately 17% women and over 20% men globally suffer from sleep apnea, a night disorder with which people stop breathing in their sleep. In the Czech Republic, we have about 80% patients who are not diagnosed with sleep apnea, although they suffer from the disorder. Untreated sleep apnea leads to hypoxemia and metabolic disorders and can cause cardiovascular diseases and strokes. If you suspect that you may have a sleep apnea, you should visit your practitioner who will refer you to a sleep lab. There are ways to treat sleep apnea and help you gain back your energy and prevent the onset of the related diseases.
After all, prevention is the best treatment and healthy living is key to staying healthy.
