The Unit of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Heart institute uses the most advanced technologies and procedures available to perform the complete range of invasive and minimally invasive surgeries for patients with heart disease.

Specialists at the Heart Institute were among the first to implant the mechanical heart valve, negating the need for a living donor. Heart surgery remains an effective treatment for many conditions of the heart that cannot be corrected by medication or lifestyle changes to manage heart attack risks.

Among the surgical procedures performed by Mulago's cardiac care surgeons are:

• Coronary artery bypass to unclog arteries
• Thoracic aortic surgery
• Valve replacement surgery to replace a heart valve that is no longer opening or closing correctly
• Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass to unclog arteries by making a smaller incision and often not using a heart-lung machine
• Transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMLR) to relieve severe chest pain
• Maze surgery to eliminate abnormal heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation)
• Pacemaker and defibrillator implants to normalize the heartbeat
• Heart transplantation to replace the patients weakened or diseased heart with a human donor heart

Leading-Edge Data Collection on Heart Surgery Patients
Since 1976 the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery has actively collected data on all patients who have operations at the Heart institute. Continually fine-tuned and enhanced, this state-of-the-art database allows a doctor to get a complete medical picture of any Institute heart surgery patient, no matter what time of day or night the patient needs care.

The computer system collects 800 data points for each patient that can be used to predict long- and short-term outcomes and major complications. In addition, the database is used for statistical purposes, allowing experts to track risks and benefits of surgery and update facts and figures regarding heart surgery outcomes. Among these data points are:

• Presurgical history and physical exam results
• Cardiac catheterization and stress test results
• Comprehensive surgery details
• Postsurgical in-hospital complications
• Post-hospital short-term complications
• Long-term follow-up information