Open Heart Surgeries Increase

Between 30,000-40,000 open heart surgeries take place annually across Iran, says Dr. Hassan Radmehr, surgeon and faculty member at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. “Coronary bypass surgery is the most common among all heart-related operations,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency. Coronary bypass is a procedure that restores blood flow to the heart muscle by diverting the flow of blood around a section of a blocked artery in the heart. Moreover, the number of heart transplants has increased over the past decade, according to Dr Mohammad Hossein Mandegar, a TUMS board member. “Thanks to modern techniques in heart transplant, the surgeries are far more successful and the survival rate has seen a marked improvement,” he said. There are six heart transplant centers in the capital at present.