The Department of Cardiac Surgery of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb is a specialized institution for surgical heart disease treatment.
Our Department is known for the largest number of cardiac operations in Croatia and has forty-five years of continuous tradition. In our institution, the first cardiac operation with cardiopulmonary bypass was performed in 1964, in 1988 the first heart transplantation in this part of Europe was performed by the late prof. Josip Sokolić, MD, PHD and his team, and in 2008, for the first time in the Republic of Croatia, a mechanical heart pump, or so called “artificial heart”, was implanted as a “bridge” to heart transplantation, which was performed successfully 15 days later.
Prof. Josip Sokolić, MD, PHD
The Department consists of a unit with 26 beds and an operating section with three operating theatres. As Croatia's largest institution for cardiac surgery it covers not only the Zagreb area but also the whole Croatian territory for complicated cardiac surgery pathology. Coronary artery surgery and heart valve surgery comprise the largest part of our operating program, and although these procedures became standard in other Croatian centres, our institution made significant steps towards the service quality improvement in the last few years. Above all, this is evident in the implementation of new surgical techniques in every day practice.
In coronary artery surgery, procedures without cardiopulmonary bypass, so called „off pump“, are also performed apart from the procedures with cardiopulmonary bypass. What should also be mentioned is the possibility of endoscopic harvesting of the great saphenous vein, which is used for bypass formation. Apart from that, arterial revascularization with the use of arteries for graft formation is performed.
In heart valve surgery we made significant steps in applying minimally invasive techniques in the approach to the aortic valve. Applying these procedures we noticed that postoperative infections and pain intensity were reduced, with improved aesthetic results. Also, a large improvement was made in mitral valve surgery in the direction of increasing the number of reconstructive procedures, which are the world standard in the surgical treatment of this valve.
A very important part of our work consists of the surgery of the aorta, elective treatment of dilated (aneurysm) ascending aorta and the aortic arch as well as emergent surgical treatment of the aortic dissection and aortic wall trauma. A large number of these surgical procedures make the Department a centre of excellence in the surgical treatment of ascending aorta pathology.
Furthermore, an area of our expertise, that we are very proud of, is the surgical treatment of chronic heart failure, a field which we are Croatian leaders in since1988. We perform the largest number of heart transplantations in our country. Mechanical heart support device implantation (called ventricular assist device - VAD) is a procedure which is performed in our Department and it is necessary for adequate chronic heart failure treatment as a “bridge to transplantation”. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) meaning implantation of biventricular electro stimulator of the heart through minimal invasive thoracotomy is also one of the methods for treating chronic heart failure in our Department, in cooperation with cardiologists from the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases.
A very important segment of our work is congenital heart surgery in children and adults. This is a part of cardiac surgery our Department has a long experience in, and we are one of the few centres in Croatia where this kind of cardiac surgery is practiced.
The Department of Cardiac Surgery also has educational goals and serves as the basic teaching facility not only for medical students within the University of Zagreb Medical School but also for residents of general surgery, fellows in cardiology, cardiac and thoracic surgery and for medical technicians. Scientific activity is also a very important aspect of our daily work.
Combining our scientific approach with our continuous education in leading foreign medical centres having almost half-century-long traditions, makes our Department a place of competence and excellence. Persisting in this attitude and approach we provide a special medical service and care for our patients in the field of cardiac surgery.
