I graduated from Istanbul Burhan Felek High School in 1984. In 1991, I completed my medical degree at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. Between 1991 and 1994, I began and continued my specialization training in Cardiovascular Surgery at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. From 1994 to 1997, I continued my specialization training in Cardiovascular Surgery at Istanbul Koşuyolu Training and Research Hospital for Cardiovascular Surgery, where I became a specialist in Cardiovascular Surgery.
Traditional heart surgery has been performed for nearly 60 years with steadily increasing success rates. In this conventional method, the patient’s sternum, commonly known as the breastbone, is cut using a surgical saw through a procedure called sternotomy. This provides surgeons with easy access to the heart and the major vessels emerging from it.
Over time, advances in technology have made it possible to treat some heart conditions that previously required surgery through minimally invasive, interventional procedures. This shift has also changed the expectations of patients who still require heart surgery.
