Depok, August 3rd, 2023. The Faculty of Medicine (FK) Universitas Indonesia (UI), which consists of students and alumni, had succeeded in winning the Best Scientific Poster award at the Congenital and Structural Intervention (CSI) Congress Frankfurt 2023 in Germany. This team consisted of alumni of FKUI, namely dr. Brian Mendel (2021); Kelvin Kohar and Theresia Feline Husen (2020); Richie Jonathan Djiu and Defin Allevia Yumnanisha (2021), and Justin Winarta (2022).
The research competition was titled “A Comprehensive Meta-analysis of the Growing Use of Percutaneous Atrial Septal Defect Closure with Echocardiography Guidance Without Fluoroscopy”. This research was conducted with guidance from the teaching staff of the Department of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine FKUI–National Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita, dr. Radityo Prakoso, Sp.JP(K), FIHA, FAPSIC, FAsCC, FACC, FESC, FSCAI and dr. Sisca Natalia Siagian, Sp.JP(K), FIHA.
CSI is the world’s largest pediatric interventional cardiology conference, organized by the CSI Foundation and attended by more than 1000 renowned doctors and professors from 100 countries every year. The scope of this activity includes congenital, structural, and valvular heart disease interventions. This year, CSI activities include live transmission, workshops, and sharing of cases regarding interventions and the latest device developments in the world. The competition was attended by a panel of judges, namely the Chair and Section Chief of the Pediatric Cardiology Division at Children’s Hospital of Georgia, United States of America, Dr. Zahid Amin and Former President of Japan Association of Pediatric Interventional Cardiology, Japan, Hideshi Tomita.
The research conducted by the FKUI Team concerned Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), namely the condition of having a hole between the atria of the heart. Closure of the hole in the heart atrium in ASD cases can be treated with non-surgical intervention or percutaneously with fluoroscopy, which is a technique using radiation as a guide. Other interventions and techniques are called zero-fluoroscopy, which are procedures that do not cause radiation.
Fluoroscopy action is often used in western countries, but this action has a negative effect namely the radiation exposure to vulnerable patients, especially pregnant women, babies, and operators who are tasked with carrying out the procedure. “While zero-fluoroscopy has the advantages and attractiveness from the meta-analysis that we examined, this technique is actually commonly used by health workers in Indonesia, but is rarely used in other countries, especially western countries. In its implementation, zero-fluoroscopy uses a tool called echocardiography which can replace radiation as a guide in the ASD closure process,” said Defin Allevia Yumnanisha.
The results of a meta-analysis study conducted by the FKUI team and brought to the CSI event recently showed that zero-fluoroscopy interventions are as good as fluoroscopy, as proved by their high success rate and low complications. This is certainly good news for the world of interventional cardiology because the meta-analysis conducted by the FKUI team can provide strong evidence that zero-fluoroscopy can be an alternative to fluoroscopy which has radiation side effects.
In the process, this team cannot be separated from the direction and guidance of Oxygen FKUI, which is a community for FKUI students who are interested in cardiology and pulmonology. “Through Oxygen FKUI, we met with supervisors, alumni, coordinators, and students from across generations. It’s great to be able to win the Best Scientific Poster award at the largest pediatric cardiology intervention conference in the world and compete with expert doctors and great professors from around the world,” said Defin.
This award also received appreciation from Dr. Zahid Amin, an interventionist from the United States. “We have started the zero-fluoroscopy technique since 2018 at the National Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita, but this technique is still a controversy in the international world regardless of the high success rate at our center,” said supervisor dr. Radityo Prakoso.
Dean of FKUI Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH, MMB, was also proud of the achievements made by the FKUI team. “Congratulations to the FKUI team for their achievements in this international event. Thank you to the supervisors, dr. Raditz and Dr. Sisca who have supported and guided the team from FKUI. Again, this is an achievement for FKUI which indicates that FKUI students and graduates can also compete globally. Hopefully this achievement can motivate other FKUI students and alumni to continue to make achievements,” said Prof. Ari.
