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12 economist sunlsuntribune saturday april 16 2005 mat ter s for the residents of york simcoe muskoka cardiac surgery team a new era in cardiovascular care 4th annual conference hosted by soutfalakes regional cardiac care program april2320o5 hie kingbridge centre king city an interactive oneday event focusing on the latest clinical techniques and practices in cardiac care who should attend cardiologists general internists family physicians conference highlights interyentionalists will debate whether thrombolytic therapy is obsolete in 2005 electrophysiologists will explore die cost effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable defibrillators an approach to appropriate patient selection will be offered the cardiovascular surgery group will demonstrate the latest surgical techniques with intraoperative video a practical discussion of postoperative complications will follow for more information and to register visit wwwsouthlakeregionakorg this conference is accredited by the canadian cardiovascular society southlake kegional health centre modern medical miracles are becoming so routine for the professionals at southlakes regional cardiac care program that sometimes the most contentious issue in the cardiac surgery operating room is what music to play during the procedure i will survive is popular said cardiac surgery program medical director dr byung moon with a wry smile characteristic of the easy going confidence displayed by the cardiac team which per formed southlakes first heart surgery only 16 months ago as part of the new regional cardiac care program comprising percutaneous coronary intervention pci and the arrhytltmia pro gram the cardiac surgery team now performs some 900 heart pro cedures per year playful sarcasm aside the surgical team lead by dr moon is among the most highly skilled and best equipped in the business the contingent of three surgeons three physician assists three acute care nurse practitioners three registered nurse first assists six perfusionists a team of anesthetists and nurses a nurse educator a cardiac care coordinator and a support staff of var ied specialists operates in a state-of-the- art facility the program has two dedicated car diac surgery operating rooms a 9bed cardiovascular intensive care unit and a 25bed inpatient unit with 4 beds designated for highrisk patients the team performs several different heart procedures the most common is coronary bypass surgery this involves grafting or attaching a vein or artery harvested from the patients leg arm or inner chest wall to the aorta the large vessel supplying blood to the heart and bypassing or skipping over the area of the coronary artery that is blocked and grafting it to a healthier section this enables the coro nary artery to once again supply oxygenenriched blood to the heart muscle the team also repairs heart valves and performs atrial or ventric ular septal defect surgery specialized surgeries to correct congeni tal defects in the upper or lower chambers of the heart as the regional cardiac centre patients are referred from various hospitals in the province including the nine hospitals in york region simcoe county and muskoka about 37 per cent of patients are from simcoe 36 per cent from york and the rest from sur rounding regions including muskoka whether patients have heart valve or coronary artery disease during bypass surgery the heartlung machine repli cates the natural function of the heart and lungs while the patients heart is stopped eat healthy exercise remain smoke free 9057270022 ext 3597 those who are waiting at home to have surgery are routinely referred to southlakes prehabilitation program this unique pro gram is designed to condition the patient both physically and emo tionally for their surgery which helps to contribute towards a faster recovery period typically the surgery takes about three to five hours in some cases it takes much longer if the patient has a high degree of dis ease dr moon said on average we do four procedures per day endoscopic vein harvesting pioneered by dr moon is a new and less invasive technique to remove the leg vein that is used for bypass surgery innovations such as this result in shorter and less painful recovery for patients about half of all cardiac surgery patients are out of intensive care within a day and back at home within the week full recovery ranges from six to eight weeks our youngest patient is in the early 30s our oldest is in the late 80s although cardiac surgery is not a cure it is a longterm solution that greatly improves the patients quality of life dr moon said ten per cent of patients require reintervention in the form of surgery or angioplasty within ten years the hardest part for patients post operatively is the lifestyle change they must be aware of the need to exercise watch their weight blood pressure and blood sugar levels and stop smoking for this reason postsurgery patients are automatically enrolled in southlakes 26week rehabilitation education and exercise program or in a similar program offered within their own community demand for renowned cardiac services will grow predicts dr moon were a relatively new pro gram and we were up to full capacity last november at the moment were maintaining the program well the region is one of the fastest growing in canada statistically each year one in every 1000 people will need cardiac surgery as the population grows so will the demand the team is geared for these challenges ours is a whole team approach said cardiac care program director janis klein we couldnt do it without everyone on board perfusion services manager paul murphy and his sixmember team are also an integral part of southlakes cardiac surgery pro gram perfusionists are highly trained professionals who are responsible for operating the heartlung machine the equipment that replicates the natural function of the heart and lungs while the heart is stopped during cardiac surgery if s an interesting job mr murphy attests each case is differ ent what we achieve here is a nice combination of technology and artistry and the results are gratifying dr moon is convinced the cardiac care unit will continue to uphold its welldeserved reputation as the finest in the field our greatest strength is our personnel all of whom are highly skilled and enthusiastic dr moon said we function like a well- tuned orchestra everyone knows what part they play when they need to play it and how each member of the team is needed to com plete the score the applause we receive for saving or improving the quality of someones life tells us that our work is indeed appre ciated southlakes regional cardiac care program is proud to be associated with mi msfek imm h york central hospital 4pa o ma riham jrix stouftviue slm hospital xv v 1 1 yjjy health services if v jvoy fz ugvsi icjli ims us soldiers jmemoal coungwood general ilurine hospital o southlake lif41iola ludk ctku 5 dnvis drive newmarket 9058951521 website wvvwouthlakewgionaloig southlake wishes to thank the following sponsors m eat healthy exercise remain smoke free vi 1p a fnwh shopptng expw woc djce s country markct wwwvincesmarketcom 9058533356 yokli ktcion hfwfr cuouf