Life-saving cardiovascular treatment on your doorstep
THE Cardiac Centres at Melomed Gatesville, Melomed Bellville and Melomed Tokai enable the hospitals to provide a 24 hour service to patients which include a number of cardiac diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical procedures.
Our Cardiac theatres encompass the latest high tech equipment and instrumentation allowing our Cardiothoracic Surgeons to conduct complicated cardiac surgery. Our Catheterisation Laboratories (Cath Lab) allow our Cardiologists to perform procedures such as angiograms, percutaneous coronary interventions, closure of congenital heart defects, treatment of stenotic heart valves and pacemaker implantations, bypass surgery and valve replacement surgery just to mention a few.
Our state-of-the-art modern Catheterisation Laboratories have the facility to perform electrophysiological studies, wherein catheters and wires passed into the heart through blood vessels are used in diagnosing and treating arrhythmias.
MELOMED Tokai offers the only cardiac intervention unit in Cape Town’s Southern Peninsula and brings the life-saving facilities much closer to people living in the area.
With a limited amount of time (known as the Golden Hour) to perform an intervention once a person suffers a heart attack, Melomed Tokai has made the distance to the closest cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory (Cath Lab) shorter and safer.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading global cause of death, accounting for more than 17.3-million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6-million by 2030, according to the American Heart Association’s Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2016 Update.
“Our Cath Lab boasts the latest advances in technology and has the latest multi-million rand machine that performs angiograms, which allows doctors to see more closely and have a better view of blood flow, locate clots in the blood vessels and choose one of a number of ways to intervene immediately,” says Sister Sharon Peterson, Head of the Cath Lab unit.
“The Cath Lab enables us to perform all vascular procedures, including stenting of major peripheral arteries in the arms, legs, kidneys, abdominal aorta and carotid arteries.
Our Cath Lab is also fully equipped to perform all neuro-interventions and neuro-interventional procedures” she adds.
“There are many conditions of the brain which can be treated through neuro-interventional procedures.” Some of the most well-known including aneurysms and strokes just to mention a few,” says Peterson.
Staff members at Melomed participate in both local and international cardiovascular disease congresses regularly to keep their knowledge up-to-date with international standards.
The location of the ICU and High Care Units at Melomed are all on the same floor within close proximity of each other and also close to theatres and Cath Lab to facilitate ease of movement.
The ICU has been designed to have the maximum amount of natural light and space to promote the well-being and positive mind-set of patients and visitors alike.
Sharon says the ICU is equipped with both staff and medical technology to treat a wide range of medical conditions regardless of the complications or intricacy of treatment required, from patients recovering from a cardiac bypass procedure to neurosurgery or vascular surgery.