Medicine

One of the fields that differentiates the ¦l±skie Voivodeship, not only in Poland but also worldwide, is medicine, cardiosurgery and oncology in particular. The hospitals that deal with these fields in the region are the leaders in the cross-national rankings:

CARDIOSURGERY

• The Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases (Zabrze),
• The Upper-Silesian Medical Centre – The Clinic of Cardiology (Katowice),

ONCOLOGY

• The Oncology Centre – The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute (Gliwice),
• The Clinic of Hematology and Transplantology  (Katowice),

BURNS

• The Centre of Burns Treatment (Siemianowice ¦l±skie). 

The Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in Zabrze is particularly noteworthy. It is one of the most important heart transplantation centres in Poland. Every year, complicated cardiosurgical and transplantation operations are carried out here. In 2001, as many as 55 such operations were performed in the centre, which is the largest number in the whole country. The Zabrze hospital places itself among the best ones in terms of the aorta aneurism operations. As one of a few centres in Poland, the Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases belongs to the group of the greatest leaders in the European cardiosurgery. More and more frequently, the doctors from Zabrze, trying to save patients’ lives, make a simultaneous transplant of two organs. Such transplantations are extremely unique. In 2002, in the whole world, 3,175 heart transplants were made and only 104 simultaneous lung and heart transplants. The Zabrze clinic is managed by Prof. Marian Zembala.

Cardiosurgery is also the specialisation of the I Clinic in Katowice Ochojec. Managed by Prof. Andrzej Bochenek, it is one of the best clinics in the world in terms of the minimally invasive (MIDCAB) operation and the usage of the most up-to-date technologies. The clinic functions within the area of the Independent Public Clinical Hospital No 7 of the Silesian University of Medicine that apparently won the “Newsweek” ranking for the best hospital in Poland. In Katowice Ochojec, for two years now, the heart operations have been carried out without cutting the chest. This is possible due to the application of the Aesop Robot. The ill that do not need to undergo operations performed by cardiosurgeons are directed to one of the three modern cardiosurgical clinics. The highly advanced instrumentation enables to discern the heart’s furthest recesses. This is the so-called CARTO system. The device makes it possible to create a three dimensional heart image. The largest number of coronography is performed in III Clinic of Cardiosurgery, managed by the top-class specialist, Prof. Michał Tendera.

Apart from cardiosurgery, it is also oncology that differentiates the ¦l±skie Voivodeship. The Oncology Centre – The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute in Gliwice is currently the most modern hospital in Poland. The instrumentation is entirely computerised. When taken to hospital, a patient has a computer record filed, where the test results are stored.

Owing to the most advanced technology, it is possible to plan the treatment strategy for the patients ill with cancer. The computerised devices enable to concentrate the radiation curative dose around a tumour, without damaging the healthy organs. The doctors for the Gliwice institute have also developed a method for genetic detection of the nipple and ovary cancer. For over ten years, it is Prof. Bogusław Maciejewski that has been the Gliwice Oncology Centre’s Director.

The Clinic of Hematology and Transplantation in Katowice, headed by Prof. Jerzy Hołowiecki, is a centre for the bone marrow transplantation of the European renown.  It is here that the first URD bone marrow transplantation was performed and for the first time the bone marrow was transplanted from a Polish unrelated donor. The Katowice centre, as the only one in Poland, is accredited by the American Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

The Centre of Burns Treatment in Siemianowice ¦l±skie, headed by Med. Dr. Marek Kawecki, is the leading centre in Poland, treating burn injuries and their consequences.

The centre’s objectives and tasks comprise:
burns treatment

• oxygen hyperbaric therapy (burns, posttraumatic injuries, infections, inflammation conditions, edemas),
• rehabilitation of burn consequences
• training courses: post-graduate for doctors, students of the Silesian University of Medicine
• research execution in the scope of burn injuries

Also, the reconstructive and aesthetic surgery treatments are performed with the usage of laser systems.

The Centre has two one-person hyperbaric chambers for performing the hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

In the hospital, there are two dispensaries:

• Burn Treatment Dispensary,
• Plastic Surgery Dispensary.