Doctors from Heart and Brain Pleven saved the life of a man with aortic dissection

The seventy-one-year-old patient was discharged from the hospital a few days ago.

The man was initially hospitalized in the Pavlikeni Hospital with pain and tightness in the chest. The complaints persisted, his condition worsened and there was evidence of an acute coronary syndrome (heart attack). The patient was transported to the specialized cardiology hospital of the Bulgarian Cardiac Institute (BCI) in Veliko Tarnovo at 22:15 in a severe, life-threatening condition. On admission to the hospital, the patient fell into clinical death. A number of measures are being taken to restore cardiac and respiratory activity. Under emergency conditions, specialists performed aortography, which proved the diagnosis: dissection of the ascending aorta.

Thanks to the quick and competent reaction of the cardiologists, Dr. Ivan Mladenov, Dr. Petar Petrov and Dr. Krasimir Kolev, the patient was stabilized. With the help of the picture archiving and communication system, through which imaging and functional tests are exchanged in real time between all BCI hospitals, the teams of cardiologists from the Cardiology Hospital in Veliko Tarnovo and cardiac surgeons from the Heart and Brain Center of Clinical Excellence decided to do surgery. The patient was transported at 23:45 by ambulance to Pleven, where in less than an hour an operating team was already formed. After a seven-hour cardiac surgery, doctors managed to bring his life back and stabilize his condition.

This is another example of the good cooperation between the state-owned Pavlikeni Hospital, the specialized cardiology hospital in Veliko Tarnovo and the ‘Heart and Brain’ Center of Clinical Excellence in Pleven – the basis of another life saved.