The 25th Congress of the Polish Society for Rheumatology was held in Krakow, organised by the Polish Society for Rheumatology. The honorary patrons of the congress were: Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, Voivode of Malopolska, Łukasz Smółka, Province Marshal of Malopolskie Voivodeship, Aleksander Miszalski, President of the City of Krakow, and His Magnificence Rector of Jagiellonian University Prof. Piotr Jedynak. Termedia Publishing House was the executiveorganiser. The book of abstracts was prepared by the editorial office of the journal Reumatologia in cooperation with Termedia Publishing House.
For the community of Polish rheumatologists, it was a special event that was also combined with the announcement of changes to the head of the Polish Society for Rheumatology (Polskie Towarzystwo Reumatologiczne – PTR). Professor Włodzimierz Samborski handed over the presidency to Zbigniew Żuber, Assoc. Prof. UAFM, specialist in paediatrics and rheumatology, head of the Department of Paediatrics at the Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski Krakow University and head of the 3rd Clinical Department of Paediatrics, Rheumatology with the Allergology Sub-Department of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Krakow. There was also a change in the position of president-elect of PTR. In the new term of office for the years 2024–2027, it will be held by Bogdan Batko, Prof. UAFM, head of the Clinic of Rheumatology and Immunology at the Józef Dietl Specialist Hospital in Krakow. The remaining members of the Main Board of PTR were also elected: Prof. Marek Brzosko (Szczecin), Magdalena Krajewska-Włodarczyk, Assoc. Prof. UWM (Olsztyn), Prof. Brygida Kwiatkowska (Warsaw), Prof. Piotr Leszczyński (Poznan), Maria Maślińska, Assoc. Prof. NIGRiR, and Prof. Jerzy Świerkot (Wroclaw). Doctor Piotr Krawiec (MD, PhD) was appointed secretary, and Doctor Marcin Stajszczyk (MD, PhD) was appointed treasurer.
Among the honorary guests were representatives of the authorities of the city of Krakow: director of the Office of the Voivode of Malopolska Łukasz Krzysztofik, director of the Department of Health, Family, Equal Treatment and Policy Dominika Studnicka (representing Łukasz Smółka, Province Marshal of Malopolskie Voivodeship), vice-president of the City of Krakow Maria Klaman, director of Department of Analyzes and Strategies at the Ministry of Health Agata Śmiglewska, rectors of Krakow universities: vice-rector of the Jagiellonian University for Collegium Medicum Prof. Maciej Małecki and former vice-rector of the Jagiellonian University for Collegium Medicum Prof. Tomasz Grodzicki, vice-rector for Medical College of Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University Prof. Filip Gołkowski, Vice-Rector for Medical University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Magdalena Krajewska-Włodarczyk, Assoc. Prof. UWM. Among the invited guests there were also Polish National Consultant in the field of rheumatology Prof. Brygida Kwiatkowska, president of Polish Ultrasound Society for Ultrasound in Medicine Małgorzata Serafin-Król (MD, PhD), and president of the European Alliance of Rheumatology Associations Prof. Daniel Aletaha. There were also hospital directors, including: Wojciech Zaręba – director of the Józef Dietl Specialist Hospital in Krakow, Marcin Jędrychowski – director of the University Hospital in Krakow, Marcin Chrzanowski – deputy director for Healthcare in the University Hospital in Krakow, Katarzyna Przybyszewska – plenipotentiary for treatment Deputy Director for Healthcare in the St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Krakow, Michał Zabojszcz – director of the Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Krakow, and Izabela Marcewicz-Jendrysik – director of the National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation in Warsaw.
Special guests included Lidia and Jerzy Owsiak, distinguished in Polish medicine and rheumatology, initiators of a large annual charity event called the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy), which has been supporting the Polish health service for years thanks to donations from Poles.
During the ceremonial opening of the congress, honorary members of the society included the following:
Prof. Tomasz Grodzicki – specialist in internal medicine, geriatrics, and hypertensiology, head of the Clinical Department of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital in Krakow, vice-rector of the Jagiellonian University for Medical College in 2016–2024, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Andrzej Kosiniak-Kamysz (MD, PhD) – internal medicine specialist, in 1989–1991 Minister of Health and Social Welfare in the government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki, long-time director (until 2021) of the Józef Dietl Specialist Hospital in Kraków.
Prof. Daniel Aletaha – Austrian physician, professor of rheumatology, head of the Department of Rheumatology at the Medical University of Vienna, since 2023 president of the European Alliance of Rheumatology Associations (EULAR).
Prof. Zoltán Szekanecz – Hungarian physician, rheumatologist, internist, clinical immunologist and allergologist, university professor, head of the Department of Rheumatology at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Debrecen, president of the Hungarian Association of Rheumatologists (MRE), former vice-president of EULAR.
During the inaugural gala, awards were also given for the best oral and poster abstracts, sponsored by the Polish Society for Rheumatology, Termedia Publishing House, Reumatologia journal, and the Polish Medical Publishing House (PZWL/PWN).
List of winners in order from first place in the 4 categories:
– Rheumatological masks of Whipple’s disease – Karolina Saganiak, Małgorzata Pukal, Łukasz Chmura, Bogdan Batko, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193338;
– Primary pulmonary extranodal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome – Jakub Nieścieruk, Joanna Dmowska-Chalaba, Maria Maślińska, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193325;
– Rituximab in combination with mycophenolate mofetil in a patient with rapidly progressive systemic sclerosis and cyclophosphamide cardiotoxicity – Aleksandra Zoń-Giebel, Daria Wolak, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193320;
– Upper respiratory tract involvement in granulomatosis with polyangiitis – single-centre experience – Anna Masiak, Zenobia Czuszyńska, Żaneta Smoleńska, Alicja Dębska-Ślizień, Michał Chmielewski, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193329;
– Serum concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine, inflammatory markers, and disease activity in relation to the components of metabolic syndrome in patients with spondyloarthritis – Zuzanna Jurkowska, Weronika Snarska, Danuta Bobrowska-Snarska, Katarzyna Fischer, Marek Brzosko, Hanna Przepiera-Będzak, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193337;
– The expression of genes involved in the response of airway epithelial cells to simulated viral infection in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies – Aleksandra Opinc-Rosiak, Joanna Sarnik, Olga Brzezińska, Anna Lewandowska-Polak, Joanna Makowska, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193335;
– The spleen as a starting point to the final diagnosis – an atypical presentation of tuberculosis during anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy – Izabela Kasenberg, Dorota Wójtowicz, Patryk Woytala, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193281;
– Effective management of cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin therapy – Martyna Plisiecka-Olesiejuk, Anna Lewandowska-Polak, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193295;
– Co-occurrence of rheumatic autoimmune disorders with selective immunoglobin A deficiency – Katarzyna Rybak, Mariusz Sikora, Marcelina Korzeniowska, Ewa Więsik-Szewczyk, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193302;
– PIWI-interacting RNAs as supporting biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis – Marek Cieśla, Hubert Kubis, Bogdan Kolarz, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193271;
– Lupus anticoagulant as a risk factor of chronic renal failure in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
– Ewa Łyś, Maria Majdan, Magdalena Dryglewska, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193289;
– Effect of treatment with tumour necrosis factor inhibitors on the kynurenine pathway in patients with rheumatoid arthritis – Dorota Sikorska, Włodzimierz Samborski, DOI: 10.5114/reum/193304.
Medals for special services to the Polish Society for Rheumatology were awarded to the following:
Maria Rell-Bakalarska (MD, PhD), a rheumatology specialist, professionally associated with the Rheuma Medicus Specialist Centre for Rheumatology and Osteoporosis in Warsaw;
Elżbieta Owczarek (MD, PhD), a long-time member of the Polish Society for Rheumatology, secretary of the Bydgoszcz branch of the PTR for two terms, and an active member of the Social Section of the PTR for many years;
Agnieszka Romanowska (MD, PhD), a member of the Polish Society for Rheumatology, chairwoman of the Audit Committee in the Poznan branch of the PTR for two terms.
A special TOP of the TOP award was given to Maria Maślińska, Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Reumatologia, for her editorial, educational, and promotion activities of Polish rheumatology.
The inaugural evening ended with a unique concert by the exceptionally talented young violinist Natalia Dragan, winner of many prestigious competitions, including the International H. Wieniawski & K. Lipiński Competition for Young Violinists in Lublin.
The following days were filled with workshops, lectures, debates, abstract presentations, and meetings of rheumatologists from all over Poland.
