Surgical Procedures
Mr Asimakopoulos offers a range of different cardiac procedures as detailed in the panel on the right hand side.
You can also find out what to expect during your stay in hospital both before and after an operation.
Hospital Stay
Your hospital admission will take place either the day before or on the day of your operation. You will be asked to attend the ward in the early afternoon where you will be seen by nurses and doctors. Investigations such as blood tests and a chest x-ray will be arranged. Mr Asimakopoulos will come to see you on the ward to discuss the operation again and to answer any question you might not have had the opportunity to ask him at your initial consultation. He will explain the procedure and ask you to sign a consent form.
On the day of surgery, you will be transferred to the operating theatre before 8:30am if your operation is scheduled in the morning, or in the early afternoon if it has been planned for later in the day. The anaesthetist will put you to sleep. A tube will be placed into your wind pipe and lines will be inserted in your wrist and neck. These lines will allow monitoring of your blood pressure, blood oxygen levels and other vital signs. A catheter will be placed in your bladder to measure urine output. Tubes are placed inside the chest area at the end of the operation to monitor blood loss.
After the operation, you will be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or the Recovery area which is located next to the operating theatres. Most likely, you will be allowed to wake up a few hours after completion of the operation and you will be transferred to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) the following morning. Patients undergoing complicated operations may need to say in the ICU for longer than one night.
Most patients are transferred from the HDU to the ward on the second or third day after surgery. All drains and monitoring lines will usually have been removed and you will be encouraged to start mobilising. You will be discharged home on the sixth or seventh day. Patients who underwent complex procedure or suffered a set-back during their hospital stay may, of course, stay longer.
You will have the opportunity to discuss your operation with Mr Asimakopoulos and his team on many occasions during your hospital stay. A clinic appointment will be arranged for you approximately six weeks after your discharge.
Get Started
First Consultation
Your first consultation will take place in the out-patient clinic. If you are an NHS patient you will need to have been referred by your cardiologist. Private patients may need authorisation from private medical insurance.