"ACIBADEM SISTINA" is the leading center for cardiac surgery in the region!

Prof. Dr. Nikolic: Our goal is always to provide the best for our patients.

In the clinical hospital "Acibadem Sistina” in Skopje, the Department of Cardiac Surgery operates, which was built according to the most modern world standards and in recent years became one of the best centers of cardiac surgery in the Republic of North Macedonia and the region. The success of the work so far is attributed to the continuous investment in the education and improvement of the team providing the highest level of health care to meet the specific needs of all categories of patients.

The eminent professor Dr. Aleksandar Nikolić, head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, who has been part of the clinical hospital team since 2015.Acibadem Sistina” says that all routine and more complex open heart procedures are performed in this department. The department operates in an organized manner with a team of experienced professionals including cardio anesthesiologists, surgeons, cardiologists, cardio perfusionists, nurses, physiotherapists and nursing assistants in a well-equipped department which has a state-of-the-art cardiac surgical intensive care unit with state-of-the-art technology for resuscitation and intensive treatment.

In this department, interventions such as coronary bypass (CABG, MIDCAB, OPCAB) and thrombendarterectomy of the carotid arteries, replacement or repair of the aortic valve (David I, II), replacement or repair of the mitral valve are performed either by open heart surgery or minimally invasive approach, tricuspid valve replacement or repair, aortic dissection and aneurysm treatment, artificial heart (TAH) implantation, and left, right, or bilateral heart support device (LVAD, RVAD, BiVAD) implantation.

PLACEMENT OF CORONARY BYPASS - ONE OF THE MOST USUAL CARDIOSURGICAL INTERVENTIONS IN "ACIBADEM SISTINA"

The number of patients who undergo cardiosurgical interventions is constantly increasing. Bypass placement is one of the most common interventions performed in the Department of Cardiac Surgery, which for a very short time provides the patient with normal functioning, prolonging his life and improving his quality of life.

"Bypass placement is a routine procedure in this department, while the results of these interventions show a high success rate. In addition to classic surgery, we also perform minimally invasive bypass surgery, which reduces the patient's stay in the hospital and enables patients to recover faster," says Prof. Dr. Nikolic.

RECONSTRUCTIVE VALVE SURGERY AT "ACIBADEM SISTINA"

In addition to the classic interventions for the replacement of heart valves, the cardiosurgical team at the clinical hospital "Acibadem Sistina” every day he performs interventions to reconstruct the valves. In the world's cardiac surgery centers, reconstructive valve surgery is increasingly being implemented, which offers opportunities for faster recovery with reduced risk of infection and blood clots.

"Operations involving the reconstruction of the diseased valve are more complicated for the surgical team than those in which the valve is replaced with an artificial prosthesis. The implementation of reconstructive surgery enables a faster recovery of the heart muscle and if the intervention is carried out at the right time it can lead to the reduction of the dimensions of the heart cavities and in a certain number of patients it can lead to the reduction of the limits of normal values, " explains Prof. Dr. Nikolic.

TAVI – NO-INCECTION HEART VALVE REPLACEMENT

TAVI is one of the newest interventions in the field of cardiac surgery, by means of which the replacement of the damaged aortic valve is performed without an incision (it is not done by opening the chest). This procedure can save the life of patients who are assessed as high-risk patients for classical surgery with the classical open chest approach due to the presence of other co-morbidities. Unlike traditional valve replacement surgery, which takes about four hours, requires artificial blood circulation support and is performed under general anesthesia, TAVI can be performed under local or general anesthesia and takes less than an hour, no with open chest, while patients are released from the hospital within a few days and full recovery is expected in one to two weeks.