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Home > ABOUT US > Clinical Outcomes > Heart Surgeries

Heart Surgeries


A variety of heart operations are performed by the Cardiothoracic surgeons in the National University Heart Centre, Singapore.


This site provides an overview of the volume and types of common adult heart operations and clinical outcomes of the patient population who underwent heart surgery at the National University Hospital (NUH) from 2009 to 2011.


Heart surgery involves surgery to treat coronary artery disease (coronary artery bypass graft surgery - CABG), valve surgery, thoracic aortic surgery, other heart operations (such as those performed to treat the heart rhythm or septal defect - a “hole in the heart”), or any combination of these operations. The main types of heart surgery performed in 2009-2011 are: 



The proportion of Isolated heart bypass surgery (CABG) has decreased over the years while the proportion of Valve surgery, combined operations and other open heart surgery has increased.



Survival Rates after Heart Surgery


Survival after heart surgery is defined as "no deaths within 30 days of surgery or within the same hospital admission (as the heart surgery)". Survival rate is expressed as the percentage of heart surgery patients who survived out of the total number of patients who underwent heart surgery during that calendar year.


Actual and Predicted Survival Rates for All Types of Heart Surgeries


The actual survival rate has increased (95.3% to 96.4%) from 2009 to 2011. All of the actual survival rates for these three years were better than risk-adjusted expected survival rates, suggesting our surgeons’ performance and outcomes following heart surgery were better than expected in the years 2009 - 2011.





Survival* Rates for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (Heart Bypass)


The actual survival rates for these three years were better than risk-adjusted expected survival rates, suggesting our surgeons’ performance and outcomes following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery were better than expected in the years 2009 - 2011.




Conclusion


Despite the increase in the complexity of heart operations performed and the high risk profile of our patients, survival rates have exceeded expectations over the years. This supports the efforts that NUH makes in continually striving to deliver the best quality of healthcare to its patients.