Ipoh: Ipoh Specialist Hospital has successfully performed 3,000 open-heart surgeries in 26 years, marking a significant milestone in its efforts to provide high-quality cardiothoracic care. Its cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Ko Chung Sen said the achievement reflects the hospital's medical team's long-standing commitment to delivering standards of care comparable to leading medical centres locally and abroad.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Dr Ko highlighted that reaching 3,000 cases in 26 years is a noteworthy accomplishment. He stated that centers performing more than 100 surgeries annually are considered high-volume, and the hospital has consistently maintained that level with a success rate of between 97 and 99 percent every year. Dr Ko explained that a typical heart bypass surgery takes between four-and-a-half to five hours, but with the latest equipment, modern technology, and skills, procedures can now be carried out more efficiently and safely.
Dr Ko addressed these achievements in a press conference attended by the hospital's medical director, Dr Luis Chen Shian Liang, and head of the Cardiology Department, Dr Hasral Noor Hasni. He acknowledged that among the main challenges in performing such surgeries are patients' age and underlying health conditions, particularly those who have undergone dialysis, experienced amputations, are wheelchair-bound, or have suffered strokes. Despite these challenges, the hospital's post-surgery complication and mortality rates remain significantly lower than international benchmarks, staying below the global standard threshold of five percent.
Meanwhile, KPJ Healthcare Berhad president and managing director Chin Keat Chyuan remarked that the milestone of 3,000 open-heart surgeries demonstrates the hospital's advanced and consistently developed cardiothoracic capabilities. He emphasized that this achievement is not merely a measure of patient numbers but also the ability to manage complex cases safely. Chin noted that it reflects how the KPJ Healthcare system supports specialist care delivery through shared standards, multidisciplinary collaboration, and continuous capacity building, reinforcing the commitment to further enhance the provision of specialist services to the community.