Almost 300 lifesaving heart surgeries have been performed in the Illawarra over the past year, thanks to the region's new specialist cardiothoracic surgery service.
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In the 12 months since a partnership between the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and Wollongong Private Hospital to provide complex surgeries locally for the first time began, there have been 289 cardiac procedures and 39 thoracic procedures.
Wollongong Private Hospital CEO, Steven Rajcany, said previously Illawarra residents would have needed to travel to Sydney for these kinds of treatments.
Surgeon Dr Mohammad Azari performed the first cardiac surgery at Wollongong Private Hospital last September.
He said Illawarra residents had benefited from the service from diagnosis, through to treatment and recovery.
"We've performed a large number of cardiac surgeries including coronary surgeries, valve operations, aortic surgeries and redo operations and more recently the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is on offer locally thanks to the local structural heart team," he said.
The Head of Cardiac Services at the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Clinical Associate Professor Astin Lee said he was proud to mark the first anniversary of the specialist surgery service.
"This is an important win for our local patients and their families," he said.
"Cardiac care is complex and requires significant cooperation and coordination to enable patients to access tertiary services close to home."
He said having cardiac surgical services available in the region allowed for further expansion of complex interventional services at Wollongong Hospital.
"Many of the new technologies for treating heart disease rely on the presence of cardiac surgeons to enable safe delivery of these therapies," he said.
"With cardiac surgeons in the region, we can now expand the types of cardiac procedures we can offer our patients, hopefully negating any need for them to travel to Sydney."
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