Official visit of Icelandic President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson and his wife started  (3.03.2020) with a welcome ceremony at the courtyard of the Presidential Palace. Then, following a brief meeting of the Presidential Couples, Agata Kornhauser-Duda and Eliza Joan Reid went to the World Hearing Center in Kajetany.

The Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing is a leading Polish research institute and a highly specialised hospital providing a comprehensive care for persons suffering from the disorders of organs of hearing, voice, speech and balance, as well as, respiratory system. First Ladies watched, together with the participants of the International Otosurgery Training Workshop, a recording of a hearing implant surgery conducted by Prof. Henryk Skarżyński.

Surgical demonstrations give surgeons a unique opportunity to learn a technique through observation of ‘live’ complex procedures. The Institute organises courses and workshops on the surgical method developed by Prof. H. Skarżyński, including practical training for doctors in ear microsurgery organised as a part of the Academy of Otosurgery. This atraumatic procedure enables to insert an implant while preserving patient’s residual hearing and anatomical structures of the inner ear.

First Ladies of Poland and Iceland watched the ‘live’ surgery with specialists from: Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy who participated in the 56^th International Clinical Training Course – Window Approach Workshop (WAW), as well as, Polish representatives – participants of the 86^th Academy of Otosurgery.

First Ladies familiarised themselves with the innovative health control system for self-examination – the Sensory Examination Capsule. This multifunctional diagnostic device is the first in the world to enable diagnosis and analysis of sensory disorders of hearing, vision, smell, taste and balance. First Ladies visited also the Teleaudiology Department where doctors can participate in real time in consultations and surgeries being conducted in different cities, and at the Center of Advanced Surgical Techniques they practised using an endoscope. They also had a chance to observe specialists working during a presentation on imaging techniques of neuronal activity, as well as, during doctor’s consultation with a young patient of the Center. Agata Kornhauser-Duda and Eliza Joan Reid talked to the directors of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing about the latest achievements in diagnostics and treatment, about the future of genetic testing and about development of transplantology. (source: www.prezydent.pl)