On November 26, 2022, FV Hospital in collaboration with Bach Mai Hospital held an annual Cardiology Conference titled “State-of-the-art techniques in cardiovascular care” to share new advances in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with the medical community. This conference furthered opportunities to improve the quality of treatment for patients in Vietnam.

Hundreds of domestic and international guests attended the conference

Many new achievements

The conference was attended by many leading experts in cardiology, both from within Vietnam and abroad. Prestigious speakers included:

• Professor Dang Van Phuoc, MD, PhD, President of the Vietnam Heart Association
• Associate Professor Pham Nguyen Vinh MD, PhD, Vice President of the Vietnam Heart Association
• Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of Cardiology Institute, Bach Mai Hospital
• Ho Minh Tuan, MD, MSc, Head of Cardiology Department of FV Hospital
• Do Nguyen Tin, MD, PhD, Children’s Hospital 1
• Professor Damras Tresukosol, MD, PhD, Head of Cardiology, Bangkok Hospital, Thailand
• Anuj Kapadiya, MD, PhD, Cathlab Director, AIG hospital, India

The conference attracted more than 200 doctors across many specialties, including those practicing in cardiology, internal medicine, emergency care, and resident doctors in Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces. Participating doctors received certificates of Continuing Medical Education (CME) issued by Bach Mai Hospital once the conference had concluded.

Scientific reports at the conference focused on two main elements: coronary artery diseases and heart failure, and general cardiology and heart structure diseases.

For the first, speakers provided updated knowledge in medical diagnosis and treatment though the following talks: Advances in heart failure treatment (presented by Dr Dang Van Phuoc), Intervention of the left coronary artery (presented by Dr Ho Minh Tuan), Optimising treatment effectiveness via imaging in coronary intervention (presented by Dr Damras Tresukosol) and Effective handling of coronary emergencies (presented by Dr Trinh Van Hai, Head of Accident & Emergency, FV hospital).

Dr Dang Van Phuoc, President of the Vietnam Heart Association

According to Dr Dang Van Phuoc, heart failure is a challenging area for the medical field as there few ways to ensure a heart failure case significantly improves, particularly when care also involves the treatment of related diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Heart failure requires much more research into medication and other methodologies.

Dr Damras Tresukosol, Head of Cardiology Department, Bangkok Hospital, Thailand

Ho Minh Tuan, MD, MSc, Head of Cardiology Department, FV Hospital

A presentation by two doctors from FV hospital was also highly appreciated. After investing in a modern, synchronous Cathlab that offers a comprehensive suite of treatment methods, FV Hospital’s doctors have been able to intervene in complicated cardiovascular emergencies, such as cardiac arrest and pulmonary oedema, to successfully save lives.

Notably, treatment times for patients with coronary artery diseases and heart failure has been significantly shortened, making an essential contribution to minimising complications and ensure a patient can be stabilized more quickly.

“According to international regulations, the time between a patient with coronary heart disease or heart failure being admitted to the emergency room to the end of surgery must be less than 90 minutes. FV Hospital sets a higher standard of 70 minutes, and in many cases the doctors were successful in ensuring a patient was stable in fewer than 25 minutes,” says Dr Ho Minh Tuan.

“The reason we have been able to do this is because FV Hospital has implemented a well-developed cardiovascular emergency protocol whereby the patient is moved from the emergency room to the Cathlab room in just over 10 minutes, and stenting procedures are complete is less than 25 minutes.”

Dr Trinh Van Hai, Head of the Accident & Emergency Department of FV Hospital presents “Diagnosis and initial treatment of heart failure”

During the section on general cardiology and structural heart diseases, speakers introduced many new applications:

• Interventional techniques for congenital heart disease treatment in adults, presented by Do Nguyen Tin, MD, PhD
• Ultrasound for congenital heart disease in adults, presented by Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, MD, PhD
• Percutaneous aortic valve replacement technique, presented by Anuj Kapadiya, MD, PhD
• Cardiovascular disease and cancer: Updates according to ESC recommendations in 2022, presented by Dr Pham Nguyen Vinh

Do Nguyen Tin, MD, PhD, Head of the Interventional Cardiology Unit at Children’s Hospital 1, presents “Interventional techniques to treat congenital heart disease in adults”

Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the Cardiology Institute, Bach Mai Hospital, presents “Ultrasound of congenital heart disease in adults”

Dr Pham Nguyen Vinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Heart Association, presents “Cardiovascular disease and cancer: Updates according to ESC recommendations in 2022”

Anuj Kapadiya, MD, PhD, Director of Cathlab, AIG Hospital, India, presents “Percutaneous aortic valve replacement technique”

An annual conference for the Vietnamese and regional cardiovascular care community

FV’s “State-of-the-art techniques in cardiovascular care” conference provided a platform for cardiologists to study the latest knowledge in this field. Dr Damras Tresukosol, Head of Cardiology, Bangkok Hospital, said: “I am very pleased to accept FV Hospital’s invitation to share new developments in cardiovascular treatment. This important event allowed experts to share quality studies and the most exciting developments in cardiovascular treatment.”

Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the Cardiology Institute, Bach Mai Hospital, added: “This cardiology conference is a scientific event that my colleagues and I were very interested in. After the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been able to meet again to share our experiences and new cardiovascular problems being tackled not only in Vietnam, but around the world. I found the programme to be very carefully prepared with lectures that will greatly help doctors in Vietnam apply new knowledge, techniques and recommendations that are being adopted as a gold standard, globally.”

Commenting on the cooperation between the two hospitals which organised this conference, Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, MD, PhD, shared: “Bach Mai Hospital and FV Hospital have a very close relationship: these two institutions have worked closely on many scientific activities, areas of research, and knowledge exchange. We hope that these two hospitals will have continue to enjoy fruitful cooperation to achieve impressive results in the future.”

According to Dr Ho Minh Tuan, Head of Cardiology, FV Hospital, cardiovascular disease is becoming increasingly common, accounting for 30 per cent of patient deaths. As a result, the medical community is placing emphasis into more research within cardiology, and this field is seeing many new advances, from screening and diagnosing diseases to strides in improved medications and intervention methods.

“At this conference, FV Hospital set out to summarise its achievements while sharing knowledge from leading experts in Vietnam and the region. This knowledge lays the foundation for preparing the next stage of development of the cardiovascular industry in Vietnam,” shared Dr Tuan.

Attending doctors also expressed their hope that this conference would become the annual event to ensure ongoing improvements in patient care and increase the possibility of patients living longer with an improved quality of life.

Dr Pham Nguyen Vinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Heart Association, said: “This conference was well organised and talks were very useful for clinical doctors and researchers. In my opinion, presentations by domestic and foreign experts were of exceptional quality. This conference is not only useful for patients, but also necessary for students and doctors to learn more about new insights and treatments.”