From 16th to 18th September, with the participation of the Faculty of Medicine MU, the II Visegrad Plastic Surgery Congress was held in Brno for doctors from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic (V4). It also became an exceptional opportunity to learn from the world leaders of this specialization, who have significantly pushed the boundaries of the field.
The topic of the congress was reconstructive plastic surgery, microsurgery and aesthetic surgery including applied clinical research in these areas. Each of the V4 countries presented two invited lectures nominated by national societies, which was a selection of „the best of the country“.
The conference was attended by 165 participants not only from the Visegrad Group countries but also from Italy, Germany, Turkey, Sweden, South Korea and the USA. The rich programme consisted of 74 lectures that were preceded by six morning training courses. 32 companies and 55 exhibitors presented themselves as well. Before the opening of the congress, the International Plastic Surgery Flap Dissection Course organized in parallel was held at the Department of Anatomy FM MU between 14th and 16th September 2021.
The participants of the congress had the rare opportunity to be enchanted by the magical energy of our important guests, world-renowned superstars of the field, who defined the international reach of the event by their participation. The congress was opened by its president, Assoc. Prof. MUDr. Luboš Dražan, Ph.D., who also introduced prof. Bohdan Pomahač, a pioneer of facial transplants in the USA with his lecture on the topic of long-term results of facial transplants. Prof. JP Hong from South Korea enthused the crowd with his lecture on innovations in reconstructive microsurgery and news in the treatment of the diabetic foot. Dr. Pietro Berrino from Italy spoke about periareolar mammaplasty and last but not least, prof. Ömer Özkan from Turkey shared results of a few unique reconstructions including the historically first uterus transplantation. “I am convinced that the experience of personal encounters with these great personalities can have an immense influence on the future specialization of our younger colleagues and students of medical faculties, which also attended the congress in big numbers,” adds Dr. Streit from Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery of the St. Anne’s University Hospital and FM MU.
Among the students and trainees, there were also students of the Faculty of Medicine MU. The lecture of MUDr. Adam Bajus from the Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery of the St. Anne’s University Hospital and FM MU received the award for the best lecture of the congress in the free papers category for its contribution to the development of the field. In his lecture, he focused on the integration of duplex ultrasound performed by a surgeon into the preoperative diagnosis of the so-called perforator flaps from the lower abdomen used for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. He perfectly represented his workplace and also our Faculty of Medicine.
The successful congress was ceremonially closed by Dr. Dražan, who also handed over the organizational relay to Dr. Palenčár from Bratislava, who will continue with the third year of the Visegrad Plastic Surgery Congress in 2023.
Brno Ph.D. Competition Talent, which annually supports promising male and female natural sciences and engineering students, brought joy to the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University this year. Among the 25 selected students who received an extraordinary scholarship of CZK 360,000 for three years, six PhD students from this faculty succeeded.
Amidst the hustle and bustle and fatigue of the end of the year, there is an opportunity to pause, reflect on the achievements and step into the next year with gratitude and hope.
