Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Medical Center, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan was founded on January 1st, 1986. It is a 2767-bed medical center. In July 1986, cardiac catheterization laboratory was established. Interventional procedures were actively performed since October 1988. The cardiac catheterization laboratory is committed towards providing high stat-of-the-art care in both diagnosing and treating coronary artery, peripheral vessels and structural heart disease and serving as a center for a variety of trials involving myocardial infarction and acute coronary syndrome. The interventional group has more than 10 full-time clinical faculties. The faculties are known for excellence in patient care, teaching and research. The interventional cardiology fellowship program is committed to train excellent local and international interventional cardiologists who are well equipped to meet the expectation of the contemporary cardiovascular specialist.
Four biplane cardiac catheterization laboratories equipped with 2 Siemens and 2 Philips machines with flat panel technique are available to cover a diverse plethora of procedures that the fellows are exposed to. Approximately over 4000 cases are performed a year with 1,700 of them involving percutaneous coronary intervention and 1,000 peripheral intervention. In 1995, it became the first hospital in Asia to perform transradial cardiac catheterization. Over 99.5% of the diagnostic and coronary/carotid interventional procedures are facilitated via transradial approach. It is a 24-hour, 7 days-a-week operational STEMI receiving center performing emergent intervention since 1996. A total of 3048 primary percutaneous transluminal coronary interventions for STEMI were performed from 1996-2012 (176 cases were performed in 2012). In addition, cardiology fellows involve other aspects of cardiovascular care, including treatment of structural heart disease. Amongst the types of procedures that are performed included:
1. Fractional flow reserve assessment for coronary physiology analysis
2. Intravascular ultrasound and virtual histology assessment for coronary plaque morphology and stent analysis
3. Percutaneous transluminal mitral, pulmonary and aortic valvuloplasty
4. Patent foramen ovale/atrial septal defect device closure
5. Patent ductus arteriosus closure
6. Balloon angioplasty of coarctation of the aorta
7. Hypertrophic cardiomyoapthy septal alcohol ablation
8. Inferior vena cava filter placement
9. Endomyocardial biopsy
10. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation placement
11. Rotational atherectomy
12. Optical coherence tomography (will be acquired in 2013)
Samuel Chi-Ling Hang, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Chief of Cardiology
Associate Professor
Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Medical Center
123 Ta-Pei Road
Niao Sung District
Kaohsiung City
Taiwan, R.O.C.