Thirty-four volunteers, skilled in cardiovascular surgery, assessment and post-operative intensive care, ventured to Arequipa, Peru, for CardioStart’s 10th cardiac surgical mission to Honorio Delgado Hospital. Volunteers hailed from across the US, Canada, Italy and Argentina to form a cohesive medical team during the two-week mission, concluding October 6, 2012. Thanks to the leadership of Mission Director and cardiac surgeon, Dr. Mariano Brizzio, the mission was a huge success.

Heart surgery in Peru Over the previous nine missions to Arequipa, CardioStart strived to implement a sustainable cardiovascular program at Honorio Delgado Hospital. This year, important administrative changes in the local department of cardiology resulted in improved cooperation and communication.  Substantial groundwork and patient selection was in place prior to the CardioStart team’s arrival.  With the full cooperation of the departments of Cardiology, Surgery, operating room staff, and the hospital administration, this was by far the most successful mission to Peru in CardioStart’s history.

During the two-week mission, 20 surgical procedures were undertaken.  Of these, 12 were pump cases and 7 were non-pump cases.  The cardiovascular team put in one pacemaker.  The team had one tragic outcome with a patient in end stage post rheumatic valve disease.  However, consistent with CardioStart’s history, the team delivered surgical outcomes comparable to those achieved in well developed university programs.

Equally exciting, is the progress of the local cardiovascular surgeon. After a year of commitment to Honorio Delgado Hospital, he shows promise of being able to fully adopt and manage the local cardiovascular surgical program.

A new development compared to previous years is the enthusiastic support of the Ministry of Health and the office of the Mayor. Both local leaders met with the CardioStart team on numerous occasions to coordinate future efforts.

The surgical program at Honorio Delgado Hospital is now poised to be fully autonomous and self-supporting within one to two years.  All the equipment and training resulted from generous donations of time and resources by CardioStart donors and volunteers.

The downstream social benefit of this success is impossible to estimate.  It is not an exaggeration to say that, going forward, many hundreds of families whose lives would have been tragically interrupted by heart disease will now be able to go forward and enjoy full, happy, purposeful, and healthy lives.