Case study #5

Netcare helps to mend broken hearts

At Netcare we are proud of our people who deliver world-class healthcare services to our patients. We support them with industry-leading training and development programmes to ensure they remain at the forefront of their profession. But it is our people’s PASSION and pride that brings true magic to our business.

Dr Farrel Hellig, a cardiologist from the Netcare Sunninghill Hospital, brought his passion for his profession to bear when he and his team made history in South Africa by completing the first transcatheter aortic valvular implantation (TAVI) procedure in October 2009.

Before the advent of this procedure, people with severe aortic heart valve stenosis (narrowing) who were not be able to survive open-heart surgery had little chance to live. But the success of this groundbreaking procedure gives new hope.

The procedure involves doctors using tubes known as catheters to implant the transcatheter aortic heart valve to replace a diseased heart valve. According to Dr Hellig, “the procedure is far less invasive than traditional open-heart surgery. The new approach makes it possible to repair the heart valve without having to resort to traumatic chest opening surgery. Seriously ill patients are therefore more likely to survive the procedure. Patients also often recover relatively quickly; some are up and about within days.”

Picture: Dr Farrel Hellig, Netcare Sunninghill Hospital, Johannesburg.