Brilliant performance of young cardiologists from ‘Heart and Brain’ at the Sofia Echocardiography Days
Three young doctors from the cardiology clinic at ‘Heart and Brain’ actively participated and performed brilliantly in the 11th edition of the Sofia Echocardiography Days on 11 and 12 April.
Dr. Martina Samardzhieva, leading specialist and head of the department, was the speaker at the event with a presentation on “Imaging methods for mitral valve assessment”. In front of more than 500 participants, she presented the main imaging modalities for mitral valve assessment – transthoracic and transesophageal 2D and 3D echocardiography, computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for a more detailed assessment.
Again this year, a doctor from the ‘Heart and Brain’ clinic received a prestigious award. Dr. Teodora Stamenova, a specialist in the clinic, took second place for best clinical case at the Candle light session. “The case she presented is extremely innovative and is yet another proof of the success of the multidisciplinary team of specialists – cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and imaging specialists at our high-tech center of excellence”, informed Dr. Samardzhieva.
The topic was “Transcatheter closure of interatrial communication. Better late than never”. “A 46-year-old female patient presented to our clinic with frequent episodes of palpitations, flushing in front of the eyes, dizziness, nausea, feeling of head warming and tingling in the occiput. During hospitalization, the patient was found to have a persistent patent foramen ovale (PFO). It is the most common anatomical cause of interatrial septal defect, occurring in one quarter of the population. It is usually asymptomatic but can cause paradoxical embolism manifesting as stroke, transient ischemic attacks(TIA) or peripheral ischemia.
After performing multiple additional diagnostic tests such as transthoracic echocardiography with bubble test, transesophageal echocardiography with bubble test, transcranial Doppler sonography with bubble test, RoPE score system calculated, the association between the findings was established and the likelihood of PFO being an etiological factor for transient ischemic attacks was verified.
During cardiac surgery team decided to correct the defect by occluder closure, a device to close interatrial defects. Two days after closure of the defect, the patient was dehospitalized in good general condition,” informed Dr. Teodora Stamenova.
Dr. Vladimira Pavlova-Popova also presented a clinical case of a patient with a rare disease – amyloidosis, referred and diagnosed in the cardiology clinic.
