Doctors perform successful first open heart surgery at Ospital ng Muntinlupa

A team of cardiologists performed on Tuesday the first-ever open heart surgery in a local government hospital in a bid to make the service more accessible to the public.

Dr. Edwin Dimatatac, Director of Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa City, said a seven-member team of doctors performed a four-hour coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at the Ospital ng Muntinlupa.

The team is composed of Asian Hospital’s top cardiologists, including: Dr. Jorge Garcia, the country’s top heart surgeon; Dr. Joseph Bamil; Dr. Roger Lim; Dr. Mervyn Orocio; Dr. Richard Escolar; Dr. Cristina Tiongson; and Dr. Michael Reyes.

The doctors performed the operation for free to a 61-year old man and resident of the city.

“This is the first and only local government hospital that [have performed] that procedure. Sa mga private, meron na ‘yan, ‘pag kapos ka, pupunta ka’ng [Philippine] Heart Center at saka PGH [Philippine General Hospital], pila ‘yon,” Dimatatac told INQUIRER.net in a telephone interview.

(There are a lot of private hospitals that perform this procedure. If you lack money, you go to the Philippine Heart Center and at the PGH—and a lot line up for it.)

Dimatatac said that a CABG procedure, usually referred to as bypass, is when doctors cut open the patient’s chest, expose the heart, remove the clogged artery, and graft a healthy vein.

It is one of the most common surgeries performed in private hospitals, but rarely performed in public infirmaries because of lack of equipment and manpower.

Dimatatac said the operation is now part of the services offered at the Ospital ng Muntinlupa.               /kga