What made you choose Cardiology?

I had very good teachers as a young man and they inspired me. I studied at Semmelweis University in Budapest and actually my first interest was heart rhythm disturbances, which is what I did for my student research as I was interested in Sudden Cardiac Death. I went to Heidelberg University for two years to study electrophysiology and in 1992 I returned to Budapest as an electrophysiologist. I became interested in interventional cardiology in 1996.

What would be some of the milestones of your career to date?

Well, I am only 43 so I hope there will still be some, but so far it has been very interesting. I was responsible for introducing the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) into Hungary in 1993 and in 2000, which has been a success. With many colleagues I also helped to set up the first network providing PCI therapy for AMI cases, which initially served an area of 3.5 million people. So you can see all our PCI efforts have initially been focused on saving lives. I am also currently the President of the Hungarian Society of Cardiology which is the largest specialist medical society in Hungary, with about 3000 members.

What message would you like to give to EuroPCR delegates?

I think that Hungary has been an interesting example of what can be done in an emerging economy and I hope we can be an encouragement for our neighbours in Eastern Europe, some of whom are in a similar situation to where we were a few years ago. For example, we began to organise the PCI network in 2003 and we succeeded in six years to expand it so that by 2009 we could say everyone in the country had access to PCI at one of the 16 specialist centres providing the service.

These centres perform about 20,000 procedures per annum and today about 65% of these interventions are aimed at saving life. So we can definitely show that even in an emerging economy it is possible to provide a comprehensive service if you can organise properly. Today, some of the centres are expanding into less acute areas where emergency life-saving may not be involved but we can certainly benefit the medium term survival and the quality of life of our patients. I would also say to work closely with your neighbours and learn from them by exchanging ideas. We are glad to be in the EuroPCR family and we have regular joint meetings with our colleagues in nearby countries.

What challenges do you still face in your country?

Our big aim is to educate the next generation of interventional cardiologists. Today we have about 80 specialists providing the national AMI service and our goal is to double that number. This will also allow us to provide a wider range of services.

What are your interests outside work?

Well Hungary is traditionally a high achieving country in Water Polo – we have won the gold medal at the last three Olympic Games, so I am a very keen player. I think sport is very important to help preserve cardiovascular fitness and I want to avoid becoming like one of my own patients! At my age of course I only compete in the old masters games. I also enjoy music, especially opera which is another typical Hungarian taste. Outside my normal work I also enjoy being part of the medical team looking after our Olympic athletes and although this is supposed to be enjoyable it also has a serious side because I can investigate the remodelling that comes from prolonged hard physical training.

Thank you for your time and have a good EuroPCR meeting