International Association for the

Professor Sylvie Opatrná MD, PhD, was a prominent personality of Czech Nephrology, an expert in peritoneal dialysis. She was born on November 9, 1959 in Rokycany, in Czechoslovakia and died on February 4, 2020 in Pilsen, the Czech Republic. After finishing high school in 1979 she started medical studies and successfully graduated from the Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, in 1985. After graduation she joined as staff member the 1^st Department of Internal Medicine of the Faculty Hospital and the Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen. At that time, that Department was lead by Professor Karel Opatrný Sen, MD, DSc.

Sylvie Opatrná passed the examination for admittance to the board in internal medicine in 1988 and specialization in nephrology in 1994.  In 2000 she successfully discussed the PhD thesis on “Selected aspects of metabolism of patients treated by continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis” at the Charles University of Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen. In 2002 she was promoted as an Associate Professor in Internal Medicine at the Charles University of Medical Faculty in Pilsen. The topic of her habilitation thesis was “Some clinical aspects of peritoneal dialysis“. In 2010 she was appointed Full Professor of Internal Medicine by the President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus.

From 1988 to 1995 Sylvie Opatrná was physician at the 1st Department of Internal Medicine of the Faculty Hospital in Pilsen. In cooperation with her husband, Professor Karel Opatrný Jr., she established a program of peritoneal dialysis that under her leadership became the largest in the Czech Republic. In 1995 she became the Head of Peritoneal Dialysis Unit at the 1st Department of Internal Medicine of Faculty Hospital. Peritoneal Dialysis Unit where she trained not less than fifty doctors and ninety nurses who spread the method over the country. At the same time she served as a lecturer (1995–2002), Associate Professor (2003–2010) and Full Professor at the Charles University Medical Faculty and Teaching Hospital in Pilsen until her premature death in 2020. At the Charles University she served as Vice-Rector for Long Life Education and Equal Opportunities (2010-2011); Scientific Board Member of the Charles University Pilsen (2009-2018); Member Ethic Committee of the Teaching Hospital Pilsen (2012-2020) and as Guest-lecturer at the Institute for Postgraduate Education of Physicians and Pharmacologists in Prague (1996-2020). She served also on the Board for Doctoral Theses in Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen (2003 -2020) and in the Accreditation Commission for Specialized Education in Nephrology of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (2011-2020).

Professor Sylvie Opatrná was Councillor (2006-2020) and General Secretary (2008-2010)  of the Czech Society of Nephrology; Councilor of the International Association for the History of Nephrology (IAHN), (2010-2013). In the last IAHN Congress in Larisa, Greece (September 2019) she was re-elected to the IAHN Board. She was a Member of the Czech Society of Internal Medicine, Czech Society of Transplantation, International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis, European Renal Association- European Dialysis and Transplantation Association and of the American Society of Nephrology.

Sylvie Opatrná published some forty papers in Postgraduální Nefrologie (Postgraduate Nephrology). All of them were cited in international journals. She also served (1995-2020) as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Aktuality v nefrologii (Current Issues in Nephrology), a Member of the Editorial Board of Medicína po promócii (Post-Graduate Medicine), Svet praktickej Mediciny (World Practical Medicine) and Postgraduální Nefrologie (Postgraduate Nephrology). In addition she was a reviewer of Peritoneal Dialysis International; Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation; Vnitřní Lékařství (Internal Medicine); Kidney and Blood Pressure Research; Therapeutic Apheresis Dialysis. Finally she was a reviewer of the Charles University Grant Agency and of Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.

The studies of Sylvie Opatrná were focused on clinical nephrology, especially on the treatment of patients with chronic renal failure using peritoneal dialysis.  She served as Physician-in-Chief of training place “Peritoneal Dialysis“at the Institute of Postgraduate Education of Physicians and Pharmacologists  in Prague (1998-2011).

Her main interest was for biocompatibility of peritoneal dialysis solutions. Furthermore in association with Professor Karel Opatrný Jr., they completed a series of projects. Replacement and support of vital organs (1994-2004); Anemia in patients with chronic renal failure (1998-1999); Relation of fibrinolysis to metabolic disorders in chronic renal failure (1998-2000). The most important results of the grant projects as well as her own experiences with the CAPD method were presented at national and international congresses in Europe and in the USA. She published sixty papers, in national and international journals and delivered over 120 presentations, frequently as invited speaker. She wrote several chapters in textbooks, including (i) Peritoneální Dialýza/Peritoneal Dialysis (1993) of Sylvie Sulková et al, (ii) Praktická nefrologie/Practical Nephrology 2nd Edition (2006) of Vladimir Teplan et al, and (iii) Klinická Nefrologie/Clinical Nephrology 1st Edition (2006) of Vladimír Tesař & Otto Schück et al.

Sylvie Opatrná also served in various Scientific and Organizing Committees of National and International Meetings including Annual Meeting of the Czech Society of Nephrology; Jan Brod Memorial Meeting of the Czech Society of Nephrology; Prague EuroPD Meeting (2005); International Society of Blood Purification Annual Meeting in Prague (2007), and the National Symposium on Peritoneal Dialysis (1999-2009).

Sylvie Opatrná was awarded by the Czech Medical Society, Regional Association of Western Bohemia – for the best scientific presentation in 1993 “Modern Peritoneal Dialysis in Clinical Practice“.

She also received the Silver Medal of the Charles University for outstanding lifelong studies and clinical care in nephrology and superb teaching at Charles University. The medal was awarded  during the meeting of the Scientific Council of Charles University on November 28, 2019.

Sylvie was interested in history in general, she liked to learn about new countries, their history and customs. From the medical point of view, she was mainly interested in the history of nephrology and internal medicine. She was also interested in fine arts, theatre, classical music, literature and so on. Time for hobbies was very short, but she enjoyed walking with her daughters, Sylvie and Veronika, and their pet dog Aron.

Sylvie Opatrná will be remembered forever, not only as a prominent nephrologist but also as a good and close friend of many Czech and Slovak nephrologists and also of many outstanding foreign nephrologists.

In the death of Professor Sylvie Opatrná the Medical Society in Pilsen, the whole Czech and Slovak Society of Nephrology as well as the International Society of Nephrology have lost a professionally prominent personality.

Sylvie will survive forever in the hearts of her daughters, Veronika and Sylvie. They were with their beloved mother until her last breathing. In her life Sylvie had also to overcome a personal tragedy, the death of her husband, Professor Karel Opatrný Jr, internationally recognized expert in nephrology in 2006. After husband’s death, she devoted all her attention to her daughters both successful physicians, and to her university duties.  It was this difficult period, but she was successful in 2010.

Sylvie Opatrná will be remembered forever, not only as a prominent nephrologist but also as a good and close friend of many Czech and Slovak nephrologists and also of many outstanding foreign nephrologists.

In the death of Professor Sylvie Opatrná the Medical Society in Pilsen, the whole Czech and Slovak Society of Nephrology as well as the International Society of Nephrology have lost a professionally prominent personality.

Sylvie will survive forever in the hearts of her daughters, Veronika and Sylvie. They were with their beloved mother until her last breathing. In her life Sylvie had also to overcome a personal tragedy, the death of her husband, Professor Karel Opatrný Jr, internationally recognized expert in nephrology in 2006. After husband’s death, she devoted all her attention to her daughters both successful physicians, and to her university duties.  It was this difficult period, but she was successful in 2010.

Dear Sylvie, allow me, as close friend the last goodbye. Thank you Sylvie also for your excellent and human cooperation with Professor Miroslav Mydlík, and his group and for your presence over the years at the international meetings in Kosice.

Katarína Derzsiová

Former Head of the Nephrological Laboratory at the 4^th Internal Clinic  and Nephrology Clinic of the University Hospital of L. Pasteur and P.J. Šafárik University Medical Faculty  in Košice, Slovak Republic, Email: katka.derzsiova@gmail.com