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The Bloemfontein Branch was re-activated during 2004 and was very active ever since. The Branch organised a Transplant Conference in July 2004 and had weekly Journal Clubs thereafter on a Wednesday afternoon (16h00 – 17h00). These meetings are CPD- accredited and has enjoyed the support from the private and academic sectors.
During 2005 Prof Wim De Vries organised the program and incorporated various disciplines that made for an exciting and informative program. These included talks and discussions ranging from haematology to intensive care and forensic medicine. In-between these meetings, cardiology and cardiac surgery topics were presented and discussed.
This forum also functioned as report back meetings for members who attended international conferences (in total over forty meetings will be held this year).
Our year end function will be held in November at the UFS Medical Faculty with a distinguished guest speaker.
Our branch is organising the 2006 SA Heart Congress. We have invited and were fortunate to confirm participation with leading surgeons, a paediatric cardiologist and at least six adult cardiologists. They include Sir Bruce Keogh, Marc De Leval, Stephan Westaby, Zijad Hijazi, Bernard Gersh, Heidi Connolly, Bill O’Niell, Hein Heidbuckel, Fernando Aviles and Sam Yusuf.
The venue will be Somerset West; using the Lord Charles Hotel as main conference centre (other hotels in the area have also been confirmed for satellite symposia).
The organising committee endeavours to highlight interfaces and team work between cardiologists and surgeons.
The Branch is financially sound.
Prof Francis E Smit, Chairman
The annual general meeting was held on 22 February 2005 at the Cape Heart Centre. The meeting began with an address by Dr Jan-Peter Smedema on ‘The use of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the management of cardiomyopathy’. At the end of the presentation, the annual general meeting was held in which the 2004 committee was re-elected unopposed, and is follows:
Chairman: Johan Brink
Treasurer: John Stevens
Secretary: Bongani Mayosi
Committee Members: Adie Horak & Basil Levetan
The second meeting of the year was held at the Cardiac Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital on 26 July 2005. The speaker was Professor DP Naidoo (University of KwaZulu Natal) who addressed the audience on ‘The value of the BNP assay in heart failure: an evidence based approach’. This meeting attracted a large and mixed audience, and was characterised by lively discussion. We are grateful to Roche pharmaceuticals for sponsoring the meeting.
Bongani Mayosi, Secretary
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JOHANNESBURG
BRANCH
President: Professor P Manga
Secretary: Dr A Cilliers
Treasurer: Dr E Gale
Committee Members:
Drs M Sussman,
Dr E Klug,
Dr H Wittmer &
Professor K Sliwa
During the past year the Johannesburg branch of the SA Heart Association has held two meetings. The first involved a debate on the role of proBNP in heart failure as well as a discussion on the role of cardiac enzymes, particulary the troponins in the diagnosis of myocardial damage. The second meeting unfortunately had to be postponed due to a conflicting meeting in the industry as well as a rugby match. The third meeting, which includs the AGM, with presentations of three excellent case studies is scheduled for the first of October. The first meeting was highly successful and more than likely so will be the second meeting.
The program of support, for Cardiology and Cardiothoracic trainees, initiated 2 years ago, has been well received. The current membership of the Johannesburg branch stands at 58. In addition, there are a number of associate members, which actively support the academic activities of the Johannesburg Branch of SA Heart.
Professor P Manga, Chairperson
KWAZULU -
NATAL BRANCH
Our AGM was held on 14.9.2005 and we adopted the Constitution seen below. Office bearers for the next two years were elected.
Chairman: Prof A Mitha
Secretary: Dr S Khan
Treasurer: Dr J Patel
Activities during the past two years largely revolved around the organisation of SA Heart Congress 2004 held fairly successfully in Durban. This was a Regional Group meeting of general interest and we availed ourselves of the assistance of most of the special interest groups. We feel this was a successful format. From a financial point of view a profit of R415000 was made. R360000 has been forwarded to SA Heart and R40000 will be retained by the KZN Regional Branch. The further R15000 will be used for any outstanding expenses and ultimately returned to the use of the Regional Group at the permission of the Congress Organising Committee. A copy of our latest balance sheet is also appended below and this excludes R40000 oweable from the Congress Account.
Our large cash surplus is largely accounted for by profit from the SA Heart Congress held at the Wild Coast Casino in 1996.
David Gillmer, Outgoing Chairman
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PRETORIA BRANCH
STRUCTURE:
The chairman is Dr Adriaan Snyders. Dr Corrie van Wyk is responsible for the journal club meetings. Unfortunately none of the other members are available for any formal regular organizational duties. Hospital groups are assigned to prepare presentations at our meetings. Dr Mike Bennett serves on SASCI Exco and on the ethics and Guidelines committee of SA Heart. Dr Adriaan Snyders serves on the Private Practice committee of SA Heart and is also editor of SA Heart Newsletter.
CONSTITUTION:
We still do not have our own constitution as previously advised. To the best of our knowledge none of the other branches have a constitution in place.
MEMBERSHIP:
37 Specialists in our area are involved in cardiac care. Of these only 23 are members of SA Heart. Our discussion groups/meetings are attended by 6 – 18 colleagues: cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and infrequently also some of our anaesthetists. In future all cath lab staff will be invited to our interventional meetings.
MEETINGS:
We have 10 clinical meetings during the year. These are attended by 6 – 20 colleagues. Each Hospital group gets assigned to present cases at two of the meetings. This year we changed the venue from Pretoria Heart Hospital to more relaxed venues around the city. We thank the industry for their support in making these meetings interesting/informative and enjoyable. 10 Journal Club Meetings during the year are held at a guesthouse in Arcadia and attended by 4-12 colleagues. During 2005 we had our first interventional meeting and plan to dedicate 3 meetings to coronary intervention during 2006. We feel very sorry for those colleagues who cannot attend these excellent meetings – either due to circumstances or by personal choice.
CARDIAC MRI:
A Cardiac MRI Service is available in Pretoria. The place of this investigation in the management of cardiovascular disease is still debated but all agree that it certainly has a role to play. Since the early demise of cardiac EBCT in SA a few years ago, we look forward to assessing the role of cardiac MRI and Multislice CT in the management of our patients.
CATH LABS/CARDIAC UNITS:
In Pretoria 8 fully functional cath labs are available at Unitas, Wilgers, Pretoria Heart, Eugene Marais, Zuid Afrikaans and Montana Hospitals in private and also at 1 Military and Garankua Hospitals. Pretoria Academic Hospital makes use of the facility at Pretoria Heart Hospital while a new cath lab is being built. A further cath lab is operational in Nelspruit.
INTERACTION:
A good working relationship exists between cardiologist, cardiothoracic surgeons, our electrophysiologist and cardiac anesthetists. We still believe that despite the major advance of PCI, CABG still has an important place in the management of CAD and other cardiovascular diseases.
Dr Adriaan Snyders, Chairperson
TYGERBERG BRANCH
Branch is dormant, nothing to report.
Go to the Branches home page.
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