On 21 March 2024, Almazov Centre hosted the VII Annual Conference on High Technology in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology – Pediatric Reproductive Medicine, which covered the activities of the National Health Service and Almazov Centre in this field. The first module «Present day pediatric gynecology» focused on the possibilities of Russian federal centres in maintaining children's reproductive health. The great importance of the topic was demonstrated by the participation in the conference of Professor Leila Adamyan, Chief Specialist in Gynecology of the Russian Ministry of Health, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who pointed out that the development of pediatric and adolescent gynecology is impossible without close connection with the fundamental and practical achievements of pediatrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences as global branches of medicine.
Marina Ippolitova, Chief Specialist in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, presented the situation in the Northwestern Federal District using the example of monitored statistical data. She highlighted the challenges for further organizational transformation of the service, based on the region's achievements and identified problems in protecting girls' reproductive health.
Dr. Nadezhda Kokhreidze, Head of the Adolescent Gynecology Department at Almazov Centre, highlighted the specific objectives of the Federal Centres, the main directions of surgical and non-surgical activities, the ultimate goal of which is to preserve the anatomical and functional characteristics of the reproductive system in childhood.
The importance of cooperation and exchange of experience in the field of pediatric and adolescent gynecology was demonstrated by the participation in the conference of Dr. Vera Andreeva, Professor of the Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Rostov State Medical University, and researchers of the 2nd Gynecological Department of Kulakov National Medical Research Centre for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology – Elena Khahchenko, MD, PhD and Irina Salnikova, MD, PhD. They discussed modern methods and perspectives of diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune ovarian dysfunction, genital endometriosis in adolescents, use of invasive diagnostic methods in pediatric gynecology.
The first module of the conference was summarized by Dr. Tatiana Pervunina, Director of the Institute of Perinatology and Pediatrics at Almazov Centre. She emphasized that the executives of Almazov Centre have been developing promising areas since the establishment of the service of specialized care for girls with gynecological disorders, and assured that the identified proposals for further improvement would be taken into account.
The second module of the conference was devoted to high-tech care for children and adolescents with reproductive disorders. Specialists presented the results of practical application of effective algorithms of diagnosis, therapy and surgery of gynecological disorders in children.
Dr. Eduard Komlichenko, Deputy Director General for Oncology, showed in his presentation how approaches to surgical planning have changed and are no longer limited to the determination of indications and contraindications for surgery and surgical access.
Dr. Ilya Kagantsov, Head of the Research Laboratory for Pediatric Surgery of Congenital Malformations, spoke about high-tech feminizing surgery for girls with genitalia virilization.
The presentation by Professor Elena Ulrich, Chief Researcher at the Reproductive Technologies Research Laboratory, was devoted to the preservation of fertility in women with cancer from childhood. Ovarian protection during gonadotoxic therapy, ovarian transposition in case of radiotherapy, cryopreservation of ovarian tissue and oocytes – this is the arsenal currently used at Almazov Centre. Young scientists Regina Stenzel and Kyaniz Aliyeva presented the results of their research on the use of functional MRI of the brain in girls with oligomenorrhea and the formation of a positive attitude to the fact of menstruation in adolescent girls.
The session was moderated by Vladimir Kopylov, Chief of the Maternity and Children's Clinic of Almazov Centre. He concluded that the module showed good results of the dynamic creative process – cooperation of experienced doctors with young scientists who perceive new technologies of science and practice.
The third module «Training based on clinical cases of the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology at Almazov Centre» was moderated by the chiefs of gynecology departments — Nadezhda Kokhreidze (Almazov Centre) and Svetlana Leontieva (Filatov Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 5). A structured review of rare, successfully completed clinical cases, requiring the involvement of city and federal centres, was conducted.
The conference took place in a very friendly and dynamic atmosphere. The coordinated work of the clinical residents of the Department of Children's Diseases of the Medical Education Institute (Head of the Department Prof. Dr. Irina Nikitina) helped to organize the event. The team approach that is the working style of Almazov Centre made this high level of conference possible.