A group of 25 cardiologists from Egypt visited the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC) at TGH this past July to learn best practices from PMCC Interventional Cardiologists. The three-day seminar incorporated lectures, live case theatre and lively discussions about the minimally invasive treatment of coronary artery disease.
"Hosting our international peers is important because it allows cardiologists to share expertise and collaborate to determine the best treatment techniques for our patients," says Dr. Vlad Dzavik, Seminar Director and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab), PMCC. "PMCC has a unique, challenging patient population, so international physicians are willing to travel to Toronto to observe these complex cases."
Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), commonly known as angioplasty, is a therapeutic procedure to treat the narrowed coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary heart disease. These narrowed arteries are caused by the build-up of cholesterol plaques that form due to atherosclerosis.
Since the Cath Lab can't accommodate 25 extra people, Grigory Vainberg, Manager, Education Technology and Media Services/Broadcasting Operations, and his team transformed a TGH conference room into a multi-screen theatre where visiting cardiologists could watch the procedure, see the patients' vitals and interact with the cardiologist at work.
"I strongly believe that UHN is a unique hospital in North America that has capability to transmit five channels of high definition quality at the same time from five locations to the same conference room with absolutely no delays," says Grigory.
In addition to leading the way in technical support, PMCC is also at the forefront of research and treatment for patients with coronary artery disease. PMCC performs over 2,000 angioplasties each year.
