Overview

Did you know?

In the past you might have visualized a cardiologist, who diagnoses and medically manages heart disease, with a stethoscope or a cardiac or cardiothoracic surgeon with a scalpel. Nowadays another type of cardiologist—called an interventional cardiologist—also carries advanced imaging techniques in his medical bag, along with the stethoscope, to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases such as cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, heart valve problems and ventricular hypertrophy among many others.

Procedures performed by interventional cardiologists include:

Angioplasty (PTCA, Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty) - for coronary atherosclerosis.
Valvuloplasty - dilation of narrowed cardiac valves (usually mitral, aortic or pulmonary).
Procedures for congenital heart disease - insertion of occluders for ventricular or atrial septal defects, occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus, angioplasty of great vessels.
Emergency angioplasty and stenting of occluded coronary vessels in the setting of acute myocardial infarction.
Coronary Thrombectomy - a procedure performed to remove thrombus (blood clot) from blood vessels.

But why travel for surgery?

As with many other goods and services, the global marketplace has given rise to competition. Within the healthcare universe the result as been the creation of a three dimensional reality for consumers when traveling internationally for medical services: a rise in higher quality care; an opportunity for dramatic cost-savings; and a level of superior service and patient experience.