Asian Hospital to conduct live demos on new heart surgery techniques

MANILA, Philippines - Medical practitioners in the country will get a chance to witness breakthrough procedures in heart surgery as the Asian Hospital and Medical Center conducts live demonstrations of new, innovative surgery techniques, one of the highlights of the hospital’s three-day National Heart Month celebration from Feb. 19 to 22.

The live demos, to be held on Feb. 20, is part of Asian Hospital and Medical Center’s continuing efforts to enhance medical practitioners’ education on the latest about heart disease treatment and procedures.

The live demonstrations are the first in the Philippines to be conducted in a medical lecture setting.

“The live demonstrations on some of today’s new procedures aim to introduce our Filipino heart surgeons to the innovative techniques that we at Asian Hospital and Medical Center have adopted in saving patients’ lives,” said Dr. Jorge Garcia, world-renowned heart surgeon and cardiac specialist and founding chairman of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center.

“The demos are part of our commitment to help educate and heighten the awareness of the public and the medical community on heart diseases and the groundbreaking developments in their prevention and treatment,” he added.

The live demos, to be conducted from 9 to 11 a.m., will be performed by Asian Hospital’s top heart surgeons, headed by Garcia himself.

The demos will be televised and will be shown to the participants of the medical lecture at the fourth floor training room of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center.

The first part of the live demos, from 9 to 10 a.m., will feature procedures from the Asian Hospital’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory to be performed by Drs. Ernesto Chua and Emilio Fausto Jison and moderated by Dr. Saturnino Javier.

The demonstrators will diagnose and treat heart conditions using catheters instead of surgery, allowing them to perform a variety of tasks using the catheter’s many different sizes and shapes. 

The second part of the live demos, from 10 to 11 a.m., will involve mitral valve repair or replacement to be performed by Garcia and Dr. Joseph Barril and moderated by Dr. Roger Lim.

Instead of replacing the heart’s defective mitral valve — the usual procedure done in most Philippine hospitals — Garcia and his team will repair it. 

The mitral valve is the valve that lies between the left atrium and left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart. This valve allows blood to flow from the left atrium into the left ventricle and then prevents the backflow of blood into the left atrium during ventricular contraction.

By repairing the valve instead of replacing it, the natural anatomy of the mitral valve is maintained. This procedure is now the method of choice for the surgical treatment of mitral valve disease.

The second part of the demos will also feature the Maze procedure, a cutting-edge technique in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation, the irregular beating of the heart caused by faulty conduction of electrical impulses.

In the Maze procedure, an energy source (radio frequency, microwave or cryothermy) is used to scar heart tissue to block abnormal electrical impulses and restore the heart’s optimal impulse conduction.

The live demos are part of Asian Hospital and Medical Center’s activities in celebration of the National Heart Month.

On Feb. 19, a lay forum will be held for the public, which will discuss, among others, the signs and symptoms, prevention and treatment of heart attack.

On Feb. 20, a lecture for medical practitioners will be conducted to update them on the latest in the management and treatment of heart conditions. 

Also that day, the Asian Hospital and Medical Center celebrates the launch of its Channel 98 and the Patient Satisfaction Survey project, which will give P50 to the Asian Hospital Charities Inc. for every survey form filled out by patients.

On Feb. 22, the last day of the celebration, a fun run will be held starting at 5:30 a.m. at the Fort in Bonifacio Global City.

To know how you can be part of the Heart Month celebration, call the Asian Hospital and Medical Center at 771-9000 or log on to www.asianhospital.com.