Within the framework of the national project "Health", the Federal Center for Cardiovascular Surgery in Astrakhan was commissioned on March 04, 2009 to improve the accessibility of cardiac surgery to citizens of the Russian Federation.

Since April 03, the Center has received its first patients. This event was especially significant for residents of 11 regions of the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasus Federal District with a total population of 13 million 500 thousand people, as they entered the zone of maximum transport accessibility of medical services of the Center.

Patients from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and residents of neighboring countries also come to the Center.

The center is equipped with modern equipment that meets all the requirements of high-tech world-class medical care in the field of "cardiovascular surgery" and belongs to one of the largest clinics for operative surgery of the heart and blood vessels in the country.

The hospital is designed for 167 cardiac surgery beds, of which 17 are for children and 40 are intensive care units. The Center has a day hospital with 4 cardiac surgery beds. Outpatient counseling is designed for 100 visits per shift. To ensure the implementation of specialized, including high-tech medical care in the profile of "cardiovascular surgery", the structure of the Center has all the necessary departments. The Center has 8 operating rooms, in which an average of 7000 heart operations are performed per year. Such a volume of surgical interventions supports the professional class of a surgeon at a high level

The Center performs operations for adults, children, including newborns with all congenital and acquired heart diseases (with the exception of transplants) with and without the use of artificial blood circulation.

Over the years, the Center has introduced and mastered the latest technologies of surgical treatment, the direction of hybrid and endovascular correction of CHD is developing, the direction of coronary bypass surgery on a working heart without artificial circulation, new methods of surgical treatment of complicated forms of coronary heart disease, combined interventions on heart valves with surgical treatment of rhythm disorders, the modern direction of minimally invasive surgery on heart valves with videosupport, 3D ultrasound reconstruction of the heart, a program of hybrid and endovascular operations for aortic aneurysms has been introduced.

I would like to highlight such technologies as:

• TAVI technique (transcatheter implantation of the aortic valve) is a method of treatment of aortic heart defects in elderly patients who have contraindications to open surgery.
• The installation of a self-absorbing vascular framework (stent) Absorb™ is a method of treating coronary heart disease in which the framework completely dissolves within about three years after installation.
• Self-expanding nitinol stent for carotid arteries is one of the most gentle minimally invasive treatment methods aimed at preventing stroke.
• Cryoablation is a modern method of treating arrhythmia with extreme cold. The probability of negative consequences does not exceed 1%. It belongs to the category of low-risk operations.
• When performing catheter ablation, the only Allura Xper Philips angiographic system in Russia with ClarityIQ technology is used. The system provides high-quality imaging for a wide range of clinical procedures, helping to produce excellent images for patients of almost any physique. A distinctive feature of Allura systems with Clarity IQ technology is the ability to perform endovascular interventions under X-ray control with an average X-ray dose reduced by 73%.
• The Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care uses Russia's first clinical information system Intelli Space Critical Care and Anesthesia, designed specifically for automation and informatization of the anesthesiology, intensive care and intensive care services. The implementation of the system made it possible to improve treatment results, such as reducing the patient's stay in the department of anesthesiology-intensive care due to: continuous automated monitoring of the patient's condition, internal audit of medical and technological processes, automation of patient data collection.

The latest technologies, expert-class equipment combined with professional human resources are the guarantee of excellent results.

Today, the Center employs 731 employees, including 132 doctors, 317 secondary medical workers. Many doctors have completed internships and training in leading clinics in Moscow, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Israel, Great Britain, USA, Germany, Italy, Norway, Holland and continue to constantly improve their qualifications. 35 doctors were invited from different regions of the country. All of them are professionals in their field with extensive experience in cardiac surgery. Thanks to their knowledge and experience, the Center's specialists provide medical care at the highest level, applying an individual approach to each patient.

Every year our specialists take part in the world's largest congresses of cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, such as the World Congress of the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons, AATS: Heart Valve Summit, the European Society of Cardiology Congress, TCT RUSSIA and many others, attend and conduct master classes themselves.

The activities of the nursing staff are also constantly being improved, developed and reaching high levels.

In 2008, the Council of Senior Nurses was established to coordinate and analyze the activities of nursing specialists. In 2013, nurses took part in a pilot project of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation to study and develop models for expanding the functional responsibilities of nurses.

Among the doctors of the Center, 1 surgeon holds the title of "Honored Doctor of Russia"; 8 researchers of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery; 36 specialists of the highest category; 5 holders of patents for inventions; 6 members of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons (European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery; 15 graduates of the Management of Medical Unit program of the Swiss University of Applied Sciences Sciences; 19 Candidates of Medical Sciences; 4 accredited quality experts of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

In terms of the volume of operations performed in all areas of cardiovascular surgery, the Center is among the 10 best clinics in the country.

The developed organizational technologies, information system, compliance with medical technologies, clinical recommendations and standards, make it possible to effectively use all the resources of the Center and provide medical care at the level of the best European and American medical centers.

The Center's employees make every effort to justify the responsibility assigned to them, help patients by offering effective treatment, even in the most difficult cases, saving lives. Our daily work is aimed at providing the highest level of services and creating a new culture of medical care.