Dr. Věra Horáčková

Dr. Věra Horáčková is a senior pulmonologist at University Hospital Motol in Prague — one of the Czech Republic's largest and most distinguished university hospitals, operating both the adult and paediatric components of the renowned Motol campus and serving as a primary national referral centre for complex respiratory disease. With 20 years of clinical experience, she is among the Czech Republic's most accomplished respiratory medicine specialists.

Czech Republic has one of Europe's highest COPD prevalence rates, significantly attributable to high historical smoking rates and exposure to industrial pollutants, particularly in the former coal-mining and industrial regions of North Bohemia and North Moravia. At Motol, Dr. Horáčková manages a very high volume of COPD patients, many with complex disease including frequent exacerbators requiring advanced management and home oxygen therapy.

She undertook advanced training at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) in Germany, one of Europe's leading respiratory medicine centres, gaining particular expertise in severe asthma assessment and biologic therapy. She also completed sleep medicine training, establishing OSA management as an important component of her clinical practice.

Dr. Horáčková completed her medical degree at Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Prague — the Czech Republic's oldest and most distinguished university. She undertook internal medicine and pulmonology training at University Hospital Motol and obtained the Czech pulmonology specialist qualification (atestace) at both I. and II. degree levels. Her PhD from Charles University (2010) focused on COPD systemic inflammation. She completed advanced training in severe asthma and ILD at the LMU Clinic of Internal Medicine in Munich, Germany (2011–2012).

Dr. Horáčková's clinical expertise covers COPD, severe asthma, lung cancer diagnostics, and sleep medicine. In COPD, she applies GOLD guidelines for triple therapy management, oversees home oxygen assessment and NIV introduction for hypercapnic respiratory failure, and supervises pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. In asthma, she assesses severe asthma phenotypes, conducts FeNO and blood eosinophil-guided workup, and prescribes biologic therapies for eligible patients.

For lung cancer diagnostics, she performs bronchoscopy with BAL and transbronchial biopsy and EBUS-TBNA for mediastinal staging — contributing to Motol's thoracic oncology MDT. In sleep medicine, she oversees polysomnography interpretation and CPAP titration for obstructive sleep apnoea. She performs thoracentesis for pleural effusion diagnosis and therapeutic drainage. She also manages COPD-OSA overlap syndrome — a common combination with higher morbidity than either condition alone.

Dr. Horáčková consults in Czech, Slovak, English, and German. University Hospital Motol is experienced with patients from across the Czech Republic, from Slovakia (which shares close cultural and linguistic ties with the Czech Republic), and increasingly from Germany and Austria. Prague is easily accessible from across Central Europe, and Motol offers Czech healthcare system pricing — significantly lower than German or Austrian private healthcare — with EU-standard quality. Video consultations for second opinions on complex respiratory cases are available.

Dr. Horáčková received the Czech Pneumological and Phthisiological Society Award for Scientific Achievement in 2018. She has published over 35 peer-reviewed articles in the European Respiratory Journal and Czech respiratory journals. She is an active member of the ERS and has contributed to the Czech COPD national guideline update. She is an associate professor at Charles University's Faculty of Medicine.