THE “Operation Open Heart” team has already carried out 14 successful surgical procedures since Friday afternoon, The National learned yesterday.
Dr Nakapi Tefuarani, a cardiologist in the Papua New Guinea team of doctors, said last Friday three patients underwent closed-heart surgery while two others had open heart procedures.
Dr Tefuarani said last Saturday, nine patients also went under the knife, of which four had closed surgery while the rest open heart.
The team had already operated on three adult heart patients out of the nine scheduled for yesterday’s procedures.
In a closed operation, a patient is hooked up to a machine that acts as the heart while the patient’s heart is being
operated on.
The process is called a heart-lung by-pass which allows the person’s heart to beat while it is being “fixed” inside.
The open heart team is composed of volunteer Australian cardiac experts who arrived in Port Moresby last Wednesday.
Operation Open Heart has been conducted in the country since 1995 by Sydney Adventist Hospital.
The team is composed of 40 surgeons, anaesthesiologists, physiotherapists and coronary care nurses.
The open or closed-heart surgery usually cost between K70,000 and K80,000 in Australia.

 

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