Strengthening Cooperation with Koç University Hospital

According to the Agreement on Scientific and Pactical International Cooperation between Zaporizhzhia State Medical University and Koç University Hospital (Istanbul, Turkey), ZSMU and Zaporizhzhia City Clinical Accident and Emergency Hospital No. 5 for the second time was visited by Associate Professor Onur Yaman, the neurosurgeon of Koç University Hospital (Turkey) and American Hospital.

Together with Dmytro Ivakhnenko, the Associate Professor of the Department of Disaster Medicine, Military Medicine, Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, the Head of the Neurosurgical Department of the City Clinical Accident and Emergency Hospital No. 5, they performed a complex operation on a patient with cervical spine injury with odontoid process fracture of second cervical vertebra.

"The patient suffered an off-the-job injury, injuring the cervical spine," commented Associate Professor Dmytro Ivakhnenko. "This is dangerous because there may be swelling of the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, so surgery is inevitable. The operation is microsurgical, high-tech, minimally invasive. It is less traumatic, as in a small incision under the control of a fluoroscope, a screw is inserted into a part of the broken vertebra, which fastens the odontoid process and the body of the spine. That's all. At first glance, it's simple. However, the intervention requires a real skill from the surgeon, because you may damage the spinal cord and medulla oblongata due to lack of professional skills. But this is not in our case. Our colleague Onur Yaman, the spinal neurosurgeon from Koç University Hospital, is known in Europe and the world as the best specialist in spinal surgery, and in particular, in such a complex pathology as spinal scoliosis. He has perhaps the greatest experience in the world in the correction of scoliosis, along with his American colleagues. That's why everything went well, like last time when we operated on the patient in July."

Onur Yaman, visiting Zaporizhzhia for the second time, gladly shared his impressions:

"I like Ukraine and the high level of its specialists in the field of medicine. We have a productive cooperation with ZSMU, which has already shown good results and good prospects for the future. I am very pleased with the cooperation with my colleague, Dmytro Ivakhnenko. He is a high-class professional, it is a pleasure to work with him in the operating room. Our further cooperation will help to improve the quality of surgery in the hospital. I believe that young leaders, such as Dmytro, have a strong potential and a great future in the development of surgery and neurosurgery. I want to thank Dmytro Ivakhnenko for the invitation and the opportunity to work with Zaporizhzhia doctors, and I also invite him to our clinic."

According to Dmytro Ivakhnenko, further development of scientific and practical ties between universities will be strengthened, the exchange of young specialists will be established, and both sides will jointly organize workshops and hold master classes. So, next year in March it is planned to hold a joint conference with specialists from Koç University in Istanbul, where Zaporizhzhia doctors and scientists of ZSMU have already been invited.

8 October 2018