Boao Super Hospital completes 1st COMBO heart stent surgery on Chinese mainland

The first case of coronary rapamycin-eluting stents being implanted on the Chinese mainland, known as COMBO heart stents, was successfully performed at the Boao Super Hospital in Hainan province on Oct 11 by Ge Junbo, an academician belonging to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Heart stents are one of the most effective methods to treat acute heart diseases and the operation has been widely applied. COMBO heart stent is a unique bioengineering drug eluting stent that can improve the success rate of heart stent surgery. It can effectively repair the vessel and avoid thrombus forming in the stent.

According to Ge, the two patients who underwent the surgery were in a special condition because they already had implanted heart stents and the stent of one patient had been fractured, which increased the risk of the operation. COMBO stent surgery is not yet universal on the Chinese mainland but the patients could still get timely medical treatment due to the preferential policies Boao Super Hospital enjoys.

The hospital provides a platform that introduces the most advanced technology and medical resources. It has now attracted 19 academician-led expert teams and completed 69 operations since it opened on March 31 this year.

Unlike most domestic hospitals, which are run by the government, Boao Super Hospital has adopted a market operation policy and accepts both private and foreign investment, according to He Pengfei, deputy director of the administration office for the Boao Lecheng pilot zone.

The hospital will provide high-end international medical services for domestic patients. Due to the geographical advantage of Hainan and the growing influence of the Boao Forum for Asia, it also plans to build an international clinical medical innovation center for wealthy medical travellers from all over the world, He said.

The reception center of the Boao Super Hospital in South China's Hainan province offers a welcoming ambiance. [Photo by Ma Zhiping/chinadaily.com.cn]