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Cardiac overview

At Life Westville Hospital’s heart centre we focus on all aspects of heart health – from awareness and education initiatives to cardiology, cardio-thoracic surgery and the rehabilitation of cardiac patients.

The heart centre at Life Westville Hospital is a fully integrated, single level, self-contained unit with world-class facilities. The unit consists of consulting suites for our supporting cardiologists, cardio-thoracic surgeons, physicians and technologists. These suites are adjacent to a dedicated cardiac ward, cardiac high care ward, coronary care unit and cardio-thoracic intensive care unit, interleading with the state of the art cardiac catheterisation laboratory and surgical theatre. The heart centre assists patients to improve the quality of their lives through the early diagnosis and treatment of a wide spectrum of cardiac conditions.

Our dedicated, multi-disciplinary team of leading supporting specialists, other healthcare professionals and specialist nursing staff, together with our state of the art facilities and technology ensure that we provide the best possible cardiac service to the greater Durban and KwaZulu-Natal communities.

Our cardiac facilities

• A 24-hour level 3 accident and emergency unit, complete with helicopter landing pad, and capable of handling any form of cardiac emergency
• A high-technology cardiac catheterisation laboratory
• A 7 bed coronary cardiac unit (CCU) accommodating patients who have undergone cardiac procedures in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory or who have acute coronary syndromes and myocardial infarcts
• A dedicated cardio-thoracic theatre
• A 6 bed cardio-thoracic intensive care unit (CTICU) where patients are cared for following major cardiac related surgery
• A cardiac rehabilitation centre where our patients receive post surgery assessments and comprehensive programmes to assist them in their recovery

Procedures undertaken

• Abdominal aortic aneurism repair with covered stent
• Angiograms
• Cardiac catheterisation procedures
  • Coronary angioplasty (PTCA)
  • Implantation of coronary stents
• Cardio-thoracic surgery
• Coronary artery bypass surgery (normal and off-pump procedures)
• Direct current cardioversions
• Implantation of artificial heart valves
• Implantation of cardiac defibrillators
• Implantation of pacemakers
• Peripheral endovascular revascularisation

Complementary facilities and services

• Cardiac technologist
• Dietetics
• Health awareness programmes
• Occupational therapy
• Patient and family counselling
• Pharmacy
• Physiotherapy
• Radiology unit, including CT scanner and MRI scanner
• Support groups

Supporting doctors