Life-saving cardiovascular treatment on your doorstep

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 l i mited amount of t i me (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”

There are many conditions of the brain which can be treated through neuro-interventional procedures; some of t he most well- known i ncluding aneurysms and strokes just to mention a few,” says Peterson.

She informs that staff members participate in both local and international cardiovascular disease congresses regularly to keep their knowledge up-to-date with international standards.