Advanced Techniques Introduced to Clinical Practice
The cardiovascular department at Pyongyang University of Medical Sciences Hospital has improved the quality of medical service with effective procedures based on fine equipment and apparatuses. One of them is sustained drainage for pericarditis with effusion.
Previously pericarditis with effusion was only treated by applying paracentesis several times, so it turned out to be not so effective and the disease remained almost untreatable, said Jo Yong Bong, chief of the department.
The health workers of the department conceived an apparatus that is capable of removing fluid and inflammatory material from pericardium more effectively, and they made a new punching apparatus by using the previously available medical supplies and parts. They went on to establish sustained drainage by applying this apparatus, plus a relevant manual technique.
The new therapy, which has been tried and tested in clinical practice for years, helps remove the fluid sustainably and completely from pericardium and cut the treatment period with much higher recovery rate, compared with the globally available therapies.
Besides, the department adopted advanced techniques such as pacing-based and interventional therapies for acute myocardial infraction, getting positive feedback from experts and patients.
The pacing-based therapy is of great clinical significance as it is a technique that is geared to making the pulse of patients with acute myocardial infraction normal, by applying a facility made to meet the physical characteristics of the Korean people.
This therapy was introduced by an Indian magazine, Journal of Medical Science and Technology, in 2024.
Some of the apparatuses and therapies adopted by the department were highly appreciated at the national exhibition of sci-tech achievements in the public health sector-2024 and medical science symposium-2025.
Now Jo Yong Bong and his colleagues are working to expand their successes in treatment by adopting more advanced techniques.