Towarzystwo Internistów Polskich
 
The Eight Slovak-Polish Conference on Internal Medicine

Annul meetings of internists from Poland and Slovakia take place by turns in both countries. On April 20-21, 2007 in the Slovak health resort Sliac Spa, the Polish and Slovak internists met on the two-day conference. The conference was organized by the Slovak Society of Internal Medicine (Slovenská Internistická Spolocnos') and Polish Society of Internal Medicine (Towarzystwo Internistów Polskich).

The conference was opened by Andrej Dukát and Eugene Joseph Kucharz. The participants were welcomed by Janusz Gaudnik, the representative of the Servier Pharmaceutical Company for Slovakia. He is Pole and graduate of the Medical University of Silesia.

The special lecture was delivered upon invitation of Slovak colleagues by Eugene J. Kucharz and was focusing on the history of the Polish Society of Internal Medicine. A special attention in the lecture was drawn on the history of Polish-Slovak cooperation in the field of internal medicine.

The first session was chaired by Anna Remková, Ivan Duris and Eugene J. Kucharz. All papers presented in the session concerned problems of atherosclerosis, risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and cardiac complications in patients with systemic inflammatory disorders. The following lectures were delivered: "Thrombophilic states" (A. Remková), "Do statins offer therapeutic potential in patients with connective tissue diseases?" (P. J. Kotyla, S. A. Cader, E. J. Kucharz), "Changes of hemostasis in metabolic syndrome" (J. Durina, A. Remková), "The incidence and type of dyslipidemia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus" (T. Dziewit, A. Wojtowicz, T. Ruciński, E. J. Kucharz), "Inflammation, atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease" (M. Caprnda, J. Lietava, A. Teren, A. Dukát), "Pathophysiology of apelin and visfatin" (A. Franczak-Drygalska, E. J. Kucharz).

The second session was chaired by Ann Kotulska, Sona Kinová and Ivica Lazúrová. The following lectures were presented: "Andersen-Tawil syndrome" (A. Kotulska, E. J. Kucharz), "Malignant hemangio-epithelioma of the liver" (M. Belovičová, S. Kinová, M. Kovár, P. Babál), "Thromboembolic complications in inflammatory bowel disease" (A. Halcin, A. Remková), "Tumor necrosis factor-associated periodic syndrome" (E. J. Kucharz), "Hemophilic arthropathy and hemoglobin related arthropaties" (I. Szypuła, E. J. Kucharz), "Diurnal variation of prolactin secretion in patients with rheumatoid arthritis" (Z. Macejová, I. Lazúrová, D. Trebal), "Idiopathic multifocal fibrosis" (M. Koncewicz., E. J. Kucharz), "Efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin treatment in lupus erythematosus chorea triggered by Salmonella" (K. Benhatchi, Z. Macejová, M. Oetterová, E. Antolová, I. Lazúrová), "Neuroendocrine tumors and the role of long-lasting somatostatin analogues in the therapy" (L. Kekenak, S. Kinová, M, Koren, E. Kováčová), "Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity in diabetes mellitus – are still present differences?" (A. Farkas).

The third session took place on the second day of the meeting, and was chaired by Jana Sirotiaková and Andrej Dukát. The main topics were diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The following lectures were delivered: "Effect of hypoglycemia on cognitive functions" (M. Migra, M. Kutlák, A. Lacko, M. Mokán), "Screening of risk factors in the population of 40-year-old men and women in the Nitra region" (P. Minárik, M. Hoppan. J. Sirotiaková), "New possibilities in the treatment of hypertension in pregnancy" (M. Hoppan, P. Minárik, J. Sirotiaková), "Detection of chronic alcohol abuse" (M. Martiakov, M. Mokán).

The conference was attended by Slovak physicians from all university centers, Polish internists as well as by group of physicians and medical students from Sweden, Sri Lanka and the United States.

The social program included visit to Banská Stiavnica, the city where the oldest Mining School in Europe was founded, unfortunately the school does not more exist there. The participants also visited the hunting palace with the English park in Antol (Sväty Anton). The palace was owned by the Hungarian family Koháry, and later by the Bulgarian tsars.

Proceedings of the meeting were published in the journal Interná Medicina, and the conference was sponsored by Pharmaceutical Company Servier.

Fig. 1. Sliac Spa, April 21, 2007. Gropu of the conference participants befere the excursion.

Fig. 2. Sliac Spa, April 20, 2007. Group of patrticipants of the conference from various countries. From left: Saba Siddiqui (USA), Helen Woldeyesus (Sweden), Eugene J. Kucharz, Patricia Kucharz, Sham A. Cader (Sri Lanka, Poland)