The challenge lies in improving techniques and the search for long-term results.
About a hundred cardiologists from Andalusia, Extremadura and the Canary Islands gathered at the weekend at the Hotel Barcelo Marbella for a scientific conference organized by Hospiten and Esteve on New Perspectives in Cardiology.
Experts of international prestige and renown debated the most important advances in the specialty and the lines of investigation that will be developed in the coming years, approaching such common diseases as cardiac insufficiency, arrhythmia or coronary heart disease from different perspectives. With particular relevance, the role of prevention in reducing cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure was examined.
The scientific meeting, aimed at professionals in medicine, was honored to have an exceptional speaker, Professor Dr. Pedro Brugada, the discoverer of the syndrome of the same name and Director of the Hospiten Estepona Arrhythmia Unit.
Dr. Brugada spoke about the 10 commandments for Atrial Fibrillation (AF), about the importance of making the correct diagnosis, of looking for and treating the causes behind the disease, like hyperthyroidism, metabolic syndrome, alcohol or even, in some cases, the excessive practice of sport.
He made professional recommendations, such as assessing the cause of the disease appropriately; not trusting idiopathic causes and explained how ischemic stroke may be the first sign of Brugada Syndrome, the cause of sudden death by ventricular fibrillation (a lethal cardiac arrhythmia).
Also of interest was the contribution of Professor Dr. Maynar, Head of the Endoluminal and Endovascular Diagnostics and Therapeutics Service at Hospiten Rambla in Tenerife, who spoke about renal denervation, which is an interventional procedure to reduce arterial pressure in patients suffering from resistant hypertension, i.e. whose arterial pressure cannot be brought under control despite taking more than three drugs to reduce their risk factor.
Additionally, in the field of cardiopathy, two renowned speakers dealt with the latest developments. Dr. Manuel Sancho, Head of the Cardiology Service at the Hospital Puerta del Mar in Cadiz, spoke about the latest techniques in interventionism of structural cardiopathy; and Professor Dr. Jose Suarez de Lezo, Professor of Cardiology and Head of the Cardiology Service at the Reina Sofia Hospital in Cordoba debated the evidence and the unknown factors of applying cell therapy (stem cells) in cardiology. A fascinating world in which there are still many questions to be answered.