Indispensable support for heart surgery

06/03/24

Heart care at Sydney Adventist Hospital is moving up to another level following the arrival of the latest technology in cardiopulmonary perfusion medicine.

New South Wales’ largest private hospital – also known as the San – has become only the fifth site in Australia to acquire the Essenz Perfusion System heart-lung machine.

“This equipment is indispensable when performing cardiac surgery,” said medical perfusionist Dr David D’Silva, also President of the Australasian Society of Medical Perfusion.

“Ultimately the machine provides insightful data which supports us in making decisions throughout a case, which allows us to better tailor individual patient care.” 

Perfusionists use heart-lung machines to keep blood flowing to the patient’s body tissues and regulate oxygen and carbon dioxide levels while the heart is stopped.

The Essenz system supports perfusionists throughout procedures, providing flexibility and scalability to optimise intra-operative care coordination.

The San team successfully performed the first adult clinical case using this technology in late January 2024. 

“We are pleased to have introduced the Essenz Perfusion System to our clinical practice to better support our patients during open-heart procedures,” Adventist HealthCare CEO Brett Goods said. 

The hospital has donated its previous heart-lung equipment to the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney and Westmead Hospital.