CAPE DOCTOR TAKES KNOWLEDGE TO POLAND, RUSSIA

Dr. Richard Kies wasn't too impressed with the architecture in Moscow, but he did get to scrub with the surgeon who pioneered radial keratotomy.

Kies, a Cape Girardeau ophthalmologist, recently returned from Poland and Russia, where he and other physicians shared technology and techniques.

"We think we set the standard -- that we're Americans -- so we're always right. Well, sometimes we're not," he said. Kies learned surgical techniques and studied implants in use in Poland and Russia, but not in the U.S.

The trip started in Krakow, Poland, where Kies demonstrated several cataract surgery techniques. He and two other doctors also presented a donation of $126,000 in medical equipment, including a faco emulsifier, a laser for eye surgery, ophthalmic devices and surgical instruments, lenses and medication. The trip was organized by the Polish American Congress.

The team worked with doctors at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. "It's considered the Harvard of Europe," Kies said.

Medical professionals in Poland are well-trained, he said, but much of the technology in use in the United States is not available in Poland.

"They don't have any of this kind of capability, and we were able to provide them with the capability to do more up-to-date types of procedures," he said. "They've been held back for some time because, from a material standpoint, they're tremendously lacking."

The team met for about 30 minutes with Polish President Lech Walesa to discuss efforts to update Poland's health-care system. "He's a really charming guy and a real character," Kies said.

Kies met Walesa's wife, Danuta, on a similar mission to Gdansk last year.

He said he was surprised at the amount of development that has taken place since he visited Poland last year.

"They're updating their whole way of life," Kies said. "When you're out in the country, you see very few fences; you see little farms, with one or two acres under tillage, primarily raising cabbages or potatoes. It's what I would think this country was like in the '20s or '30s. Just from last year to this year there have been major changes. You see a lot more commercialization, a lot more building and construction."

The team then went to Moscow, where they watched and demonstrated several surgical procedures at the Intersectoral Research and Technology Complex.

It was there that Kies met Svyatoslav Fyodorov, the surgeon who "basically resurrected radial keratotomy as we know it."

"He's doing some incredibly innovative things," Kies said. "The guy's an ophthalmological genius, and probably a genius in other ways, too. He did all this in an abject, Cold War, hostile environment. He's manufactured several implants that we don't have access to."

Kies observed radial keratotomy, laser, glaucoma and implants procedures, and was "kind of disappointed" that Fyodorov, like doctors in the United States, relies on surgical procedures rather than laser to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism.

Laser techniques are still developing, although lasers can be used in some instances, Kies said.

"It's fascinating to talk to a guy like this," Kies said. "The other thing is, he's getting ready to run for president of Russia. Boris Yeltsin is considered kind of a joke over there."

While in Moscow Kies also presented a paper.