September- October Webinars

The Philippine Society of Pediatric Cardiology (PSPC) conducted two (2) webinars in September and one (1) webinar in October.

The 11th PSPC webinar on “FACT OR BLUFF: COMMONLY-ASKED QUESTIONS ON RF & RHD” was held last September 3, 2020 with DR. CECILIENNE S. ACOSTA, DR. PACITA JAY L. BALLELOS and JULIET J. BALLELOS, as speakers. The moderator was DR. MARIA INA P. BUNYI, Vice-President of the Philippine Foundation for the prevention and Control of Rheumatic Fever (RF)and Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD).

Dr. Acosta is a Fellow of the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and the Philippine College of Cardiology (PCC). She talked on “RF/ RHD SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS: APPLYING JONES CRITERIA”. Dr. Ballelos is a Fellow of the PPS, PCC and Philippine Society of Echocardiography (PSE), and the Co-Chair of the Council on RF and RHD of the Philippine Heart Association. She talked on “ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC SCREENING AND RISK CLASSIFICATION OF RHD”. Dr. Balderas is a Fellow of the PPS, PCC and PSE and is the current President of the Philippine Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease. She talked on “PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF RF/ RHD” and “PHILHEATH OPD PACKAGE FOR FREE PENICILLIN”. To make the webinar more inactive, they used the “Fact or Bluff” format in the conduct of the polls during the lectures of the speakers. There were 668 participants.

The 12th PSPC webinar on “NEONATAL PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING FOR CRITICAL CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING: MANDATORY OR NOT? was held last September 24, 2020 with PSPC Past President DR. MARIA LOURDES STA. ROSA -CASAS as speaker. Dr. Casas is a Fellow of the PPS, PCC and Fetal Echocardiography in Stockholm, Sweden. She was a past Department Manager of the Department of Pediatric Cardiology of the Philippine Heart Center before she transferred to Abu Dhabi and is currently a Health Authority of Abu Dhabi Specialist in Pediatrics & Pediatric Cardiology. In her talk, Dr. Casas explained the standard algorithm in the use of pulse oximetry in the screening of newborns and urge the audience to advocate the mandatory use of this test.

There were two panelists after the talk of Dr. Casas. DR. VIRGINIA C. MAPPALA of the Philippine Heart Center presented her research paper on “A MULTI-CENTER STUDY ON THE ACCURACY OF PULSE OXIMETRY AFTER THE 24TH HOUR OF LIFE AS SCREENING TOOL FOR CRITICAL CONGENITAL HEART DISEASES AMONG TERM NEONATES”. DR. JOSE JONAS D. DEL ROSARIO of UP-PGH also presented the preliminary findings of his research paper on “THE PHILIPPINE MULTICENTER PULSE OXIMETRY SCREENING FOR CRITICAL CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE: A PILOT STUDY”. DR. RACHELLE ANGELI R. NIÑALGA was the emcee- moderator. There were 550 participants.

The 13th PSPC webinar on “ARRHYTHMIA IN CHILDREN: WHEN TO WORRY?” was held last October 8, 2020 with PSPC Past President DR. MAGDALENA J. LAGAMAYO as speaker. Dr. Lagamayo is a Pediatric Cardiologist-Electrophysiologist who is a Fellow of the PPS, PCC and a Director of the Philippine Heart Rhythm Society. She discussed the different classification of arrhythmias based on rate (bradyarrhythmias versus tachyarrhythmias) and also on location. She also pointed out tips on how to recognize arrhythmias which are benign and need no treatment versus those which need prompt treatment. DR. GERRY B. ACOSTA was the emcee-moderator. There were 689 participants.