Karelian Research Medical Center of the NWB RAMS: to the 60^th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences

Karelian Scientific Medical Center of the Northwestern Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (KSMC NWB RAMS) was created in 2000 on the initiative of the Presidium of the Northwestern Branch of RAMS and with an active support of the Government of the Republic of Karelia, of Petrozavodsk State University and one of the largest enterprises of the Northwest of Russia «Kondopoga». The primary directions of the research conducted in KSMC NWB RAMS were defined considering the region's climate (low temperatures during 9 months of the year with high humidity and a small number of sunny days) and geography (vast territories with a low population density), as well as statistical parameters of the population health. These main directions are the following:

1. Cardiovascular pathology (epidemiology, diagnostics, clinics, surgery, anesthesia, rehabilitation).
2. Perinatology and regional pediatric issues.
3. Prophylactics of the most wide spread infectious diseases of the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems.
4. Design and introduction of new medical technologies, including new information technologies.

The clinical hospitals of Petrozavodsk, where the leading specialists work, as well as the medical center of «Kondopoga» have come to be the main clinical and research bases. A unique feature of the institution is the fact the the center is still in the stage of being established, its buildings are quickly being constructed and equipped with modern tools for diagnostics and treatment. The medical center in Kondopoga is becoming the main base of KSMC, where a diagnostic center and a multiprofile polyclinics are located, and opportunities are available for the rehabilitation of patients with cardiovascular diseases. The construction of a hospital is planned to be finished in 2005-2006, with a complex of diagnostic equipment, operation rooms for coronal vessels lesions, aortal arch stenosis, operations on the thoracis and abdominal aorta, arteries and veins of the extremities. The center will be equipped with modern rentgen-diagnostic devices for performing dilatation and stenting of blood vessels and conducting endoscopic interventions.