History

Open-heart surgery at the University Hospital of Coimbra was commenced in 1976, in the 3rd Department of Surgery, by the head of the Department, Professor Bartholo do Valle Pereira, who had carried out the first repair of a coarctation of the aorta and had introduced closed mitral commisurotomy in Portugal, already in 1957. However, due to several limitations, especially logistic, there was little surgical activity until 1988, when, under the new direction of Professor Manuel J. Antunes, the Department entered full activity, much as it is today.

Due to the full time and exclusive dedication of the medical team, it was possible to eliminate, from a very early stage, the waiting list for cardiac surgery in the central region of the country, which is covered by this hospital. Both increased productivity and good quality care gave prestige to the Department at national and international level. Consequently, patients from all over the country began to turn to the Department, which also resulted in a reduction in the waiting lists at national level.

Soon the Department’s premises, which had been designed for a much smaller capacity, became inadequate. Hence, in 1991 the admission ward was extended and a new operating room built, which allowed for an increase in the surgical activity. Over 13,000 open-heart procedures, out of a total of more than 18,500 surgeries, have by then been performed. However, this was but a small adjustment, as there were already plans for a new building. Finally, the construction of the new department, at a global cost of over 12,5 million Euros (15 million USD), started in September 2000 and was inaugurated in September 2002 (see Facilities).

In the last fifteen years, the Department was honoured with the visit of several giants of the world of thoracic surgery, amongst whom we count Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes, and Professors Christian Barnard, the pioneer of heart transplantation, Floyd Loop, Chairman of the Board of the Cleveland Clinic, John Barlow, Craig Miller, Hans Borst, Alain Carpentier, Gordon Danielson, Adib Jatene, Shahbudin Rahimtoola, Marco Turina and Magdi Yacoub, the latter six to participate in the International Symposium – Update in Cardiac Surgery, successfully organised by the Department in 1993. The Department has also welcomed a large number of surgeons from over 20 countries, who came for further training. From 1997, training positions for foreign doctors were formalised and programmed for two surgeons/ residents at a time.

Towards the end of 1998, the Department was distinguished with the honour of becoming the first Centre of Responsibility in the country, in accordance with a new philosophy of management. Consequently, from 1999 onwards, the Department enjoyed some administrative and financial autonomy, and was seen as a testing ground for new management methods, which might, in the years to come, be applied to other Departments.

In the academic field, the Department is involved in teaching Anatomy (1st year) and Cardiothoracic Surgery (5th and 6th years) in the Faculty of Medicine, and is responsible for the chair of Methods and Techniques in Cardiac Surgery, in the Course of Cardiopneumology, at the School of Health Technology of Coimbra. It also participates regularly in nurse teaching in the two Nursing Schools.

 A cardiac transplantation program was iniciated in 2003 and has since performed 25-30 operations a year, constituting approximately 60% of the country's total.

 By the end of 2012, our centre celebrated it's 25th aniversary, with a total of 35276 patients operated globally. To this commeroration came the most well known Cardiothoracic Surgeons as Professor Alain Carpentier and Professor Magdi Yacoub, who were awarded with the title of Honoris Causa by the University of Coimbra.