The first edition of two-day Apollo Advanced Cardiac Techniques and Technologies in Surgery (AACTTS) workshop hosted by Apollo Hospitals witnessed World’s renowned Cardiothoracic surgeons who briefed about the advances, latest techniques and best practices in the field of Cardiothoracic surgery.

Cardiothoracic surgeons Dr. Vijay Dikshit, Sr. consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, Apollo Hospitals; Dr. V.A. Subramanian, Ex director of surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York; Dr. Nirav C. Patel, vice chairman, cardiothoracic surgery and director, Robotic Cardiac Surgery, Lennox Hill Hospital, New York; Dr. Mahesh Ramchandani, chief of cardiac surgery, Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston, Texas and Dr. Ramachandra Reddy, associate professor, cardiovascular surgery, Mount Sinai Medical Centre, New York, speaking at the press conference said, Cardiothoracic surgery has made a huge leap forward and the techniques have been fine tuned to be minimally invasive with minimal infection rate, thereby ensuring shorter hospital stay due to speedy recovery of patients.

Dr. Vijay Dikshit said, this workshop enabled the delegate cardiothoracic surgeons from across the country to fine tune their techniques with the practical tips and tricks shared by expert faculty. The renowned faculty was impressed by the enormous enthusiasm shown by the delegates in posing intellectual questions and learning the finer aspects.

Dr. V.A. Subramanian said, India has huge incidence of cardiac disease and diabetes, early detection and prevention is the way forward for the country to gain control over this burden. It is essential to involve Cardiac surgeon from the initial stage to manage these patients. Speaking about rising cost of healthcare, he said, standardisation of care across the system can bring down the cost of healthcare. Companies manufacturing devices should offer different cost structure for South Asian countries. Government also should regulate the cost of devices being imported, the plus point for India is volumes it can offer, so the Government should make the companies know that they can sell devices here but should reduce the prices due to the volume advantage. Hospitals here should also come together and negotiate prices. Dr Subramanian said, devices should be made here, entrepreneurs should come forward and manufacture them. India has very bright engineering talent, it is just the question of how and when some people come forward to make them here.

According to Dr. Nirav C. Patel, the way forward for cardiac care in this country is team collaboration, every cardiac patient case has to be discussed threadbare and the treatment modality decided by the team comprising of cardiologist, cardiothoracic surgeon, Anaesthetist and other members. Such multi-disciplinary approach helps in dispensing optimal care and the patient gets only the best form of treatment. Apollo being the healthcare leader is best placed to popularise this practice of team collaboration in India, Apollo has the perfect opportunity to form teams for treating cardiovascular disease.  

The eminent doctors were part of the expert panel of faculty at the ‘Apollo Advanced Cardiac Techniques and Technologies in Surgery’ (AACTTS) Workshop, held on 7th and 8th January in Hyderabad. This workshop was one of its kind demonstrating the latest surgical techniques and technologies in the field of Cardio Thoracic Surgery related to Cardiac Valve procedures, Mini Thoracotomy, Mini Sternotomy, Multi Vessel Mid-Cab, Catheter based surgical interventions, Coronary Anastomotic devices and many others recent technologies in Cardiac Surgery. The novelty of the workshop was the unique “Live-In-Box” workshop, where pre-recorded advanced cardiac surgeries were demonstrated on High Definition projection. The delegates had the advantage of knowing the tips and tricks of techniques and an opportunity to interact with the international faculty present at the venue. It  equipped the surgeons with knowledge on the latest as well as upcoming techniques and technologies, which can translate into surgery becoming simpler and safer, ensuring a shorter recovery period for the patients.