From September 30, 2019 to October 3, 2019, the delegation of MEDVOYAGE represented by PhD Dr. Aygun Shukurova and Bayaz Sadikhova paid a two-day visit to Ukraine Kiev at the invitation of Ilya Nikolaevich Emets, Ukrainian doctor, director of the Scientific and Practical Medical Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine ", Cardiac surgeon, doctor of medical sciences, professor of the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery named after P. L. Shupik, Honored Doctor of Ukraine and also a member of the European Association of Surgery for Congenital Heart Diseases.
The purpose of the trip was to participate in the XIV UKRAINIAN FORUM OF CONGENITAL HEART DISEASES. The slogan of this forum was the words - THANKS FOR OUR HEARTS! In the days of the conference, relevant topics were discussed about the direction of regenerative medicine, which is of great importance and is revolutionary for the treatment of congenital and acquired pathologies and helps to increase the life expectancy of patients. Restoration of tissues and organs in modern medicine. A meeting was founded by the Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Its head is the famous Ukrainian doctor Ilya Emets.
This year, world-class leaders in regenerative medicine were invited to make a breakthrough in their field: Professor Shaker Mausa and Professor Keith March from the USA, Professor Paul Vogt from Switzerland and Professor Jean Roubaix from Belgium. Now scientists around the world are working on tissue-growing technologies so that their own organs help the patient recover.
For the first time in Ukraine, the Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery has developed and implemented the diagnostic program “Fetal Heart”. It allows to diagnose heart defects from the 18th week of pregnancy. This makes it possible to reduce the lethal outcome of these patients, determining the observation tactics before the birth of the child and they subsequent treatment. During the conference, Filaret, Metropolitan of Lviv and Galitsky (Sergey Kucherov) also made a speech. He spoke of a church view of new methods and technologies in medicine. It also spoke about the achievements of the center of pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery in recent years.
On September 30, 2009, for the first time in the world, Ilya Yemets performed a heart operation on a newborn using his own umbilical cord blood instead of donor blood. And according to this fact, from this year this program called CorD, which has received recognition in the entire medical community unofficial name "Ukrainian Method". This operation on a small patient is carried out from the first minutes after birth when cord blood is taken and a cardiological examination is performed. Depending on the pathology, the operation is carried out in the first days, or even in the first hours of life. The use of umbilical cord blood avoids the many risks associated with donated blood. In addition, cord blood, enriched with additional chemicals, has stem cells, which in turn are saturated with oxygen, and which do not create an additional burden on the newborn’s immune system, as is the case with donor blood. Thanks to this method and the efficiency of defect correction, the patient’s healing process is significantly accelerated. About this, all financial costs are reduced to 50%. Over the past 10 years, over 300 operations have been performed under this program. This method has been appreciated by foreign experts, including at prestigious forums in Switzerland, the UK, Poland, India, and Turkey. He also received high support and appreciation during presentations at two congresses of the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons.
The center employs 10 doctors of sciences, 23 candidates of sciences. Three are laureates of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology. The specialists of the center are active members of European, American and world professional medical associations, in particular, the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (eacts), the European Association of Pediatric Cardiac Surgeons (eachsa). Some specialists are invited to work abroad. They adequately represent the center in Germany, Great Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia. A very high level of medical services contributes to the constant growth of patients from abroad. The largest number of patients come from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and countries from Central Asia.
This center is divided into two clinics - a clinic for children and a clinic for adults. In addition to pediatric cardiology, the center has a longevity program - cardio. This is a program for helping older patients. Thanks to the introduction of the achievements of modern medicine, methods of non-traumatic minimally invasive surgery and individually selected therapy, the center has made significant progress in improving the quality and prolonging the life of patients. The oldest of them, at the age of 97 years, underwent endovascular aortic valve replacement. At this conference there was a video in which a 97-year-old patient thanked Ilya Emets and all the doctors of the center for the operation.
With the initiative of the Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery with the participation of leading specialists of the center and private investors, the Cardi Plus science park was created. This park is the first and only medical science park in Ukraine. The main objectives of the park are:
· Development of mass scientific and technical activities in the field of healthcare.
· Support for innovative research in the field of cardiology and cardiac surgery.
· Production and implementation of high-tech products in the domestic and foreign markets.
In addition to all of the above, in 1993, on the initiative of Ilya Yemets, an international charity foundation, the Children's Heart, was established. The foundation's mission is to support and develop pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery in Ukraine. The fund constantly organizes charity events. Holds concerts and art auctions. The goal is to raise funds for the purchase of medical equipment for the center in order to save our kids.
The founder and director of the Biotechnological complex HEMAFUND spoke at the forum. He spoke about the activities of the fund. The international biotechnological complex HEMAFUND is the most modern licensed cryobank of Ukraine, which since 2005 has been providing its customers with long-term storage of human cells and tissues. Cryobank is located on more than 1000 m² of a single biotechnological complex, combining laboratories, cryo-storage and customer services. In 2017, HEMAFUND opened a representative office in Georgia.
HEMAFUND is the only biobank of Ukraine, which is a member of the international organization Cord Blood Association. Mr. Isaakov touched on the history of the cord blood bank. The first cord blood bank was created in 1992. It was then that Professor David Harris retained the umbilical cord blood of his son. This gave rise to the personalized storage of cord blood. There are also public (donor) cord blood banks in the world. They keep cord blood deposits that parents gave to charity after giving birth to their baby. These deposits can be used by anyone in the world who requires treatment and who is cord blood suitable (as with organ transplantation, cord blood transplantation requires immunological compatibility between the donor and the patient). Hemafond, in turn, provides everything necessary for the collection of cord blood in the hospital. A special personalized container for the collection of umbilical cord blood and / or umbilical cord containing everything you need for this procedure will be delivered to your maternity hospital by the expected date of delivery. Today, more than 600 cord blood banks operate in the world. Most of them are private cord blood banks providing personalized storage services.
A family awaiting the birth of a baby can store the umbilical cord blood of the baby at birth in one of these biobanks. And if you need treatment for one of the family members - withdraw your biodeposite and use it in therapy. He emphasized the fact that anyone can use these services all over the world. The HEMAFUND cord blood processing technique has been developed taking into account all modern data and allows to obtain the maximum number of viable stem cells from each sample. HEMAFUND is the only Ukrainian cord blood bank, which, like the leading banks of US and European stem cells, insures its liability to the client in a contractual manner. If necessary, the use of stem cells for the treatment of HEMAFUND guarantees free delivery of biological material of the client to anywhere in the world. Transportation is carried out officially by an accredited company. Mr. Isaakov expressed a desire to open a regional office with functionality to advise the population (women in labor) and control the sending of material to the company's laboratory for further processing and storage in Kiev (Ukraine) in post-Soviet countries including Azerbaijan. Having extensive international experience, she believes that the service to preserve their own stem cells will be accepted and demanded by the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In a three-day visit, our delegation was invited to the Center for Cardiology of Cardiac Surgery. We got acquainted with the work of Clinic No 1 for children, as well as building No 2, which offer a full range of cardiac services to patients from several hours of life, including adults who underwent heart surgery in childhood. During the meeting, Professor Ilya Emets emphasized the fact that a number of operations are carried out with the assistance of high-class foreign doctors. Two specialists from Switzerland are Professor Paul Vogt and Dr. Pierre Lewis. They operate in the center on an ongoing basis.
At the end of the visit, an oral agreement on partnership and cooperation was agreed between the Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery and MEDVOYAGE Medical Tourism, which will be signed during the next few days by the Ukrainian delegation in Baku, on the provision of the center’s services to patients from Azerbaijan with a heart disease, as well as with operations of heart disease during which the latest world standards of surgery and treatment from Ukrainian specialists in the field of stem cells will be used. Those who are interested can contact Medvoyage for more specific information, as well as prices for this operation.
Being a MEDVOYAGE Medical Tourism company, we thank the esteemed professor Ilya Emets, as well as his team for the invitation and warm welcome.
