Department of Cardiac Surgery - Memorial Bahcelievler Hospital Istanbul

About the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Memorial Bahcelievler Hospital Istanbul

The Department of Cardiac Surgery at the Memorial Bahçelievler Hospital Istanbul offers the full range of surgical treatment of cardiovascular diseases at the most advanced technical level. It performs all cardiac surgeries, except for heart transplants. The department performs more than 1,000 surgical interventions annually, 78% of which are coronary artery bypass grafting, while the remaining 22% serve to correct heart valve defects and congenital heart abnormalities in adults. The department has state-of-the-art operating rooms, which contributes to the successful treatment of patients with cardiac pathologies. The Chief Physician of the department is Prof. Dr. med. Askın Ali Korkmaz.

The department's doctors cooperate closely with specialists from leading medical facilities in Europe and the United States, thanks to which they are the first to apply effective innovative surgical techniques in clinical practice at the national level. The department's medical team was one of the first in Turkey to place endovascular stents for the treatment of pathological lesions of the major aortic branches. The department's specialists were the pioneers in the country in radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmia treatment.

One of the most demanded surgical interventions in the department is coronary artery bypass grafting – an operation for restoration of blood flow in the coronary vessels. With the help of this surgical procedure, the surgeons form an alternative bypass for blood supply to ischemic areas of the myocardium. The duration of the operation is 4-6 hours. After the operation, the patient is transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. It is worth noting that the medical facility is one of the first in Turkey, whose doctors began to practice coronary artery bypass grafting using the progressive robotic surgeon called AESOP. Such interventions involve the use of special infrared scanners, which are available only in a few medical centers in the world. The department demonstrates excellent success rates in the treatment of coronary heart disease with coronary artery bypass grafting. It is worth noting that the mortality rate during such operations is less than 1%, while in the hospitals of developed countries of the world this figure ranges from 1-3%. The infection rate during surgery is also below the global average.

Another department's priority is the treatment of heart valve pathologies. The specialists of the clinic mostly perform mitral and aortic valve replacement surgery. Both mechanical and biological valves are used for heart valve replacement. The mechanical heart valves are highly reliable, have a long service life and do not require replacement. However, after the implantation of a mechanical heart valve, the patients need to constantly take drugs in order to reduce blood clotting. The biological valves are gradually destroyed in the human body, and their service life depends on the age of the patient and the presence of concomitant pathologies.

The department's clinical focuses include:

• Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for coronary artery disease treatment
  • CABG with a heart-lung machine
  • Off-pump CABG, without a heart-lung machine
  • Beating heart CABG, with a heart-lung machine
• Surgical treatment of heart valve pathologies
  • Mitral valve replacement
  • Aortic valve replacement
• Implantation of endovascular stents for the treatment of pathological lesions of the major aortic branches (in cooperation with the specialists in interventional radiology)
• Surgical correction of сarotid stenosis caused by coronary heart disease
• Intensive care for patients after heart surgery
• Other surgical options