Almaty doctors perform open-heart operation for first time

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ASTANA - On Nov. 25 doctors at the City Cardiological Centre in Almaty successfully performed a coronary artery bypass graft, one of the most difficult types of open-heart surgery.

The operation was performed by a team of surgeons headed by Erlan Mashimbayev, the chief of the hospital’s cardiac surgery unit. Collectively the specialists have performed more than 300 operations.

“A coronary artery bypass enables a person suffering from ischaemic heart disease or someone who has had a heart attack to lead a normal life again,” Mashimbayev said. “Currently almost half of patients with this disease die. In Almaty alone the demand for coronary artery bypass grafts has reached 2,000 a year. Most of these patients are in the 40 to 60 age bracket. As yet we can help only a very few of them.”

The first patient to undergo the operation performed by the Kazakh cardiologists was 66-year-old Valery Bubenshchikov, who now feels like a new man. “I feel terrific!” he said after the operation.

Coronary artery bypasses are not only difficult operations, but also expensive ones, costing in the region of $7,000 [USD]. State hospitals in Kazakhstan are not able to cover their expenditure independently, and this first operation was paid for by the state. Meanwhile, the Kazakh cardiologists are gearing up for their next coronary artery bypass operation.