On October 8th, 2022, CardioStart International embarked on one of our most collaborative efforts to date in Nigeria with two of our valued University hospital partners, advancing 3 distinct programs in 2 different states: University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu (UNTH) and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Lagos (LASUTH).
In 2019, Dr. Mariano Brizzio, (Adult cardiac surgeon with CardioStart International) was invited to lead a mission to Legazpi, Philippines (Bicol Region) Bicol Medical Center to treat adults in need of heart care by the New Jersey Rotary District 7490/Gift of Life. Dr. Brizzio took on the challenge and built a team from Valley Hospital and Healthcare System, Ridgewood New Jersey. Additional team members were invited and vetted by CardioStart administration.
CardioStart’s third mission to The Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam took place January of this year.
In January 2020, twelve CardioStart International volunteers from six different countries participated in an ongoing cardiovascular program-development effort at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana.
On this occasion, CardioStart’s International mission team made a return visit to the Hospital del Nino Dr. Francisco de Icaza Bustamante in Guayaquil, Ecuador on invitation by the hospital Administration, arranged by the Fundacion El Cielo Para Los Ninos del Ecuador.
This mission was CardioStart’s 6th adult cardiac surgery mission to Clinica Corozonas Unidos, in Santo Domingo. HeartCare Dominicana, Inc. facilitated the team’ presence during the week and arranged for patients to be seen for this humanitarian surgical program.
Between November 27th and December 3rd, 2018, CardioStart conducted awareness, education, and screening outreach in multiple regions of Central Nepal.
In April 2018, CardioStart International returned for a sixth time to the country of Nepal and for a third time to the Human Organ Transplant Center (HOTC) in the historical city of Bhaktapur. CardioStart volunteers were organized into 2 teams: a surgery team that stayed in Bhaktapur to perform cardiovascular surgeries and a medical outreach team that ventured out into underserved rural areas to provide heart screenings with a focus on rheumatic heart disease (RHD) education.
On this occasion, CardioStart’s International mission team made a return visit to the Hospital del Nino Dr. Francisco de Icaza Bustamante in Guayaquil, Ecuador on invitation by the Fundacion El Cielo Para Los Ninos del Ecuador. This was designated as a two-week mission, but administrative hold-ups with documentation and Ministry approval it was only able for the patients to be assessed during the second week. Accordingly, only a few cases could be undertaken. Three of the cases were emergency presentations and it was felt by both teams that these patients would shortly die without an attempt to resolve their presentation surgically.
This mission was CardioStart’s 5th adult cardiac surgery mission to Clinica Corozonas Unidos, in Santo Domingo. HeartCare Dominicana, Inc. facilitated the team’ presence during the week and arranged for patients to be seen for this humanitarian surgical program. Several complex valve repairs/replacements were performed with intensive involvement with the local team. Unique to this hospital, two Off Pump Coronary Artery Bypass cases were done. One Atrial Septal Defect repair was carried out using an Amplatz device. All cases were successful.
