Cardiology

The Department of Cardiology of the Faculty of General Medicine of the Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi (YSMU) is a leading center for the realization of undergraduate educational programs in the area of cardiovascular medicine and postgraduate training of clinical residents and physicians. The department was originally established in 2011 by the physicians from the Department of Internal Diseases № 1 as new structure from a previously-existing Department of Internal Diseases 1. The head of the department is Professor Hamayak Sisakian, MD, PhD, FESC, the Fellow of the American Heart Association, Editorial board member and Reviewer of several international cardiovascular journals and President of the Armenian Cardiologist’s Association (2019-2021). Prof. Sisakian supervises the Clinic of General and Invasive Cardiology established in 2004.

The Department of Cardiology offers educational, scientific and clinical training programs to undergraduate medical students and clinical residents. The teaching of 4^th and 6^th year undergraduate courses in cardiology, the postgraduate education of clinical residents, as well as continuing medical education (CME) of physicians are performed in the department. Physicians from 23 countries of the world have passed the residency programs and postgraduate specialty training in the department. The Clinic of General and Invasive Cardiology is equipped with modern diagnostic and treatment methods of cardiovascular diseases, including the invasive cardiology unit. The management of patients with various cardiac diseases, including acute and chronic heart failure, is performed according to the current guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).  The Department is known in Armenia and the region for the practical usage of novel diagnostic and treatment methods, implementation of preventive strategies, international collaborative studies and educational programs in rural medical institutions, as well as the realization of new educational programs in cardiology.

The main areas of clinical studies performed in the department are related to the following topics:

1. Investigation of the characteristics of pathogenesis of myocardial remodeling in the development of chronic heart failure;
2. Evaluation of new treatment approaches in heart failure and procedures to reduce the rate of hospitalizations and mortality of patients;
3. Investigation of novel prognostic markers in acute myocardial infarction.

The department also participates in multicenter international clinical trials. Several educational manuals and handbooks have been published by members of the department of cardiology. The results of the clinical studies performed in the department are presented in regional and international conferences, as well as published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

The department has contributed to the development of Clinical Practice Guidelines of the ESC (Pericadial Diseases-2015, Acute and Chronic Heart Failure-2016, Myocardial Revascularization-2018, and the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation-2020). The staff physicians continuously participate in professional training programs in leading European medical institutions.

The treatment of various cardiovascular pathologies, including coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, cardiomyopathies, arrhythmias, valvular heart diseases, peripheral vascular disease are performed in  the Clinic of General and Invasive Cardiology of the «Heratsi» University Hospital № 1. Invasive and non-invasive treatment approaches are widely used in the management of cardiac patients. The clinic is considered the leader in the implementation of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and modern echocardiography methods in Armenia. More than 1,000 coronary and peripheral artery angioplasty procedures are annually performed in the clinic. The mortality rate from acute myocardial infarction is about 5.4% which is comparable to the indicators of leading European cardiology institutions. The annual range of echocardiography examinations includes more than 10,000 transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), 300 transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), and 300 4D echocardiographic examinations.