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Kazickas Family Visits Kaunas Pediatric Clinic
07/19/2016

In June, Kazickas family members visited Kaunas Pediatric Clinic. For many years KFF has been supporting children's intensive care unit which yearly provides medical assistance to over 1,500 children with severe illnesses and traumas. In 2008, 500,000 Litas ($215,000) grant was given to acquire intensive therapy equipment that had been saving many childrens lives since. This year with KFF help, center acquired polysomnography machine which will help to diagnose causes for children's primary chronic respiratory illnesses.


 
The Center of Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Children at Kaunas Pediatric Clinic is the only such specific center in Lithuania. Cetrer tries to serve all the children with respiratory system disorders. Primary chronic respiratory organ illnesses are not that common. However, secondary damage to the respiratory system, while suffering from some other chronic illness, means complications and could even be a cause of death. It is crucial for the center to have access to sophisticated diagnostic equipment in order to find the causes for main chronic respiratory diseases and to provide proper care to those children as well as quality long term health care. Moreover a lot of sleep disorders in our children could be only suspected, but not diagnosed properly, so consequently they cannot be treated. 
 

According to the head of the center dr. V. Miseviciene, "Currently, center's most important goal is to provide polysomnographic tests on children, as well as to acquire the equipment in order to be able to evaluate young children's respiratory functions. Many Western countries can't imagine current medicine without such diagnostic equipment, however, it hasn't reached Lithuania until now".

 

Dr. V. Miseviciene shared "During the visit, I believe, guests were assured that the need for help is crucial, prioritized those needs and figured out what is the best way to provide it. We were extremely excited to meet few new Kazickas family members who care so much about Lithuania and its people, and to share not just our concerns but our accomplishments as well. We hope our guests were convinced that their help is vital to certain young patients." During Kazickas family visit polysomnography equipment was just ordered but haven't reached the hospital yet. Today, it is almost installed and KFF director N. Baumilieme had a chance to see it and learn more about it during her visit to the clinic in July. 

 

Dr. V. Miseviciene also mentioned that even though, according to the statistics, infant mortality rate is not such high in Lithuania (t doesn't reach 4/1000 live infants), children mortality rate, especially under age 5, even though it's slowly decreasing, it is still high, in comparisson to other western countries. It' is quite disturbing that traumas, accidents, even suicides are childrens mortality leading causes. Oncology and respiratory system illnesses are leading causes as well. Social and economic aspects describe such situation.

 

The Center of Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Children at Kaunas Pediatric Clinic is inviting specialists from the C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, University of Michigan Health System (USA) to a conference "Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Children: from Theory to Clinical Practice" which will take place on September 23rd.

 

 

Photo: Head of the Childen’s Clinic at Kaunas University Hospital of Health Sciences prof. Rimantas Kėvalas, Head of the Children's Allergology Department dr. Jolanta Kudzytė, Head of The Center of Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Children dr. Valdonė Misevičienė with Joseph, John, Lucy, Alex, Augie, Marcie Kazickas iand Lucy Ingram.

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