SOCIETY OF PEDIATRIC CARDIAC CRITICAL CARE
DEVOTED TO THE ATTAINMENT OF OPTIMAL HEALTH FOR ALL INFANTS AND CHILDREN
The 1st Annual Meeting of the Society (SPCCC-2022) was organised as “Basic Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Course (BPCICC)” at Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh (August 6-7, 2022). The course was the first of its kind in the country dedicated to need of the critically ill children with congenital heart disease. The program featured a comprehensive agenda of lectures, skill stations, work stations, demonstrations and case-based discussions to cover a full spectrum of pediatric cardiac critical care issues— management of babies with congenital heart disease at birth, in neonatal emergency, in pediatric emergency, pre-operative stabilization in intensive care unit and their post-operative care. It was organised in association with Punjab Medical Council, and was partially funded by Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB) of GoI Department of Science & Technology.
Event was inaugurated by Prof. Surjit Singh (Head, Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER-Chandigarh), Prof. Satish Deopujari (President, Society of Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care), Prof. Rohit Rao (Medical Director, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit, Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, USA) and Prof. Arun Kumar Baranwal (Clinician In-charge, HDF unit, Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER, Chandigarh).
A mix of experienced, and young enthusiastic practitioners of pediatric cardiac critical care (n=30) from across the country graced the course as faculty, which included Prof. Satish Deopujari (Nagpur), Prof. Rohit Rao (San Diego, USA), Prof. Srikant Basu (LHMC, Delhi), Prof. Shyam KST, Prof. Anand Mishra and Prof. Sachin Mahajan (Department of CTVS, PGIMER-Chandigarh), Prof. VK Arya, Prof. Banashree Mandal, Dr. Sunder Negi (Department of Anaesthesia, PGIMER-Chandigarh), Prof. Ashwini Sood (Head, Department of Pediatrics, Mullana Medical College, Mullana, Ambala), Prof. Vishal Guglani (Head, Department of Pediatrics, GMCH-Chandigarh), Prof. Deepak Chawla (Head, Department of Neonatology, GMCH-Chandigarh), Prof. Kanya Mukhopadhyay (Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER-Chandigarh), Prof Akshay Saxena and Prof. Manphool Singhal (Department of Radio-diagnosis, PGIMER-Chandigarh), Prof. Kamal Singhal (LHMC, Delhi), Dr. Riyan Shetty (Narayan Hrudayalay, Bengaluru), Dr. Sameer Sadavarte (Fortis Hospital, Mumbai), Dr. Parag Dakate (KIMS Cuddles Hospital, Hyderabad), Dr. Shubhadeep Das (Narayana Superspecialty Hospital, Howrah), Dr. Md Ali (Mission Hospital, Durgapur), Dr. Anil Kumar (SGRH, Delhi), Dr.Priyavarthini (Apollo Hospital, Chennai), Dr. Garima Garg and Dr. Rajat Gupta (Fortis Hospital, Mohali), Dr. Lalit Takia (AIIMS, Delhi) and Dr. Navpreet Kaur (PGIMER, Chandigarh). The course was attended by intensivists, pediatricians and medical students (n=53) from Institutes of National Importance and Medical Colleges of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
Lectures covered topics related to basic sciences pertaining congenital heart disease, and critical care issues. It included applied embryology and morphology of cardiovascular structures, fetal and neonatal circulation, cardiopulmonary interactions, heart failure, pulmonary hypertensive crisis, single ventricle physiology, vasoactive drugs used in cardiac intensive care, approach to suspected congenital heart disease in a neonate, transport of the critically ill child with congenital heart disease, pre-operative stabilization, invasive hemodynamic monitoring, balancing Qp/Qs ratio, cardiopulmonary bypass, care of children after cardiopulmonary bypass, surgical cardiovascular shunts, airway and pulmonary issues in children with congenital heart disease. Demonstration and skill stations were main attractions of the course, and included cadaveric demonstration of cardiovascular structures, ECG, functional echocardiography, epicardial pacing, inhaled nitric oxide delivery system and ECMO machine. Problem-oriented case-based discussions on common intensive care issues in a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit were specially appreciated.
Despite being the first such attempt to organize a 2-day stand-alone course in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care in the country, it received accolades from faculty and delegates alike.