Taipei Medical Tourism

Cheng Hsin General Hospital was established in 1967 by Madame Chiang Mayling Soong, as a rehabilitation medical center dedicated to children suffering from polio. Today, Cheng Hsin has grown into a comprehensive general teaching hospital, surrounded by the beautiful gardens of Taiwan.

In addition to the treatment of polio, Cheng Hsin serves patients in the areas of Cardiovascular Medicine, Otolaryngology, and Orthopedic Surgery. Cheng Hsin boasts advanced medical devices, such as the da Vinci Surgical System, dual-source CT scanner, as well as the first cardiovascular hybrid operation room in Taiwan.

In 2010 Cheng-Hsin celebrated the 24th anniversary of its first heart transplantation. During the ceremony the hospital welcomed three recipients commemorating 20 years of life after heart transplantation—the longest standing record in Asia.


About Heart Center
This page was last edited on Oct 15, 2020.
 
The Heart Center at Cheng Hsin General Hospital has flourished for twenty-five years under the firm leadership of Dr. Jeng Wei, our Superintendent and internationally recognized authority on Cardiac Surgery, and is now one of the leading heart centres in Asia, which specializes in the diagnosis, management and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, the Heart Centre consists of four Divisions of Cardiovascular Surgery, Cardiology, Pediatric Cardiology, and Cardiac Nursing as well as two Units of Cardiac Intensive Care and Cardiac Rehabilitation.
Up to Oct, 2020, the total number of successfully performed heart-transplant operations by our Cardiac Transplantation Team (of the Cardiovascular Surgery Division) amounted to 530, of which 51 cases have survived, post-surgery, for more than 20 years. In other words, both of our success and survival rates are the highest in Taiwan, and surpass even those of the US according to the statistics published by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) as well as the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). Furthermore, nearly 70,000 procedures of cardiac catheterization (or “heart cath”) have been successfully performed in our Catheterization Laboratories (of the Cardiology Division) and over 2,700 artificial pacemakers have been implanted at our institution. Our success rate approaches 100% and most patients having undergone either “heart cath” or pacemaker implant surgery were fit enough to go home in four or five days.
 
The Heart Center is really much more than an assembly of top-notch cardiac surgeons and cardiologists, or a stock of high-tech equipment and facilities. One quick glance at the landmarks in our history tells just how far the Heart Centre has come, and how relentlessly Dr. Wei and The Heart Team have been in pursuit of the most human, efficient, painless, sensitive, and well-rounded cardiac healthcare:
In 1996, the Total Artificial Heart Implantation was performed successfully by Dr. Wei and his team; shortly afterwards, the Simultaneous Heart-and-Kidney Transplantation was performed on this same patient, who survived for nearly 20 years post-surgery. Thus, Dr. Wei and his team set two important world records in the history of medicine.
In 1997, the Transradial Cardiac Catheterization technique, most pioneering then in Taiwan, was fully developed by the Cardiology Division, and then incorporated into “heart cath” to reduce the patient’s feelings of pain and discomfort during the procedure. Later in 2006, the Transradial Cardiac Catheterization technique was awarded the Symbol of National Quality (SNQ).
In 1998, to repair a patient’s left ventricular rupture, Dr. Wei and his team performed the Cardiac Auto-Transplantation Procedure successfully, and set another new medical world record.
In 1999, the groundbreaking Beating-Heart Coronary Artery Bypass technique was fully developed and has since then provided, particularly, elderly high-risk patients with a safer option during the heart surgery.
In 2001, the Nil Blood-Transfusion Heart-Transplant was successfully performed on a two-year-old child; once more, Dr. Wei and his team set an amazing world record in the medical history.
In 2003, the Heart Center started the first Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit in Taiwan, which has provided our patients with well-rounded, pre- and post-surgery cardiac healthcare ever since. Whereas, the Cardiac Tele-Health-Care Services of the Cardiology Division was created in 2006 and, since then, it has provided patients with 24/7 tele-health monitoring services. The Cardiac Tele-Health-Care Services obtained the SNQ in 2016.
Dr. Wei invented the Vascular Ring Connector (an implantable cardiovascular medical product essential to the Aortic Dissecting Aneurysm Surgery) in 2006 and its application has effectively raised the success rate of the surgery treating aortic dissection conditions, which is above 95% now. The Vascular Ring Connector was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in 2009.
Every second counts, when it comes to saving lives! So the Cardiovascular Hybrid Operation Room, first in Taiwan and second in Asia, was installed in 2009, to create aseptic, multi-functional, surgical space, which enables our cardiac surgeons to buy time and save lives. Whereas, the Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) system was installed in the same year, to provide our patients with a non-intrusive treatment alternative for angina, cardiogenic shock, heart failure, etc.
Advanced coronary artery disease (also known as advanced ischemic heart disease) is a complex condition that often involves difficult decisions, but charting a clear path through the shared decision-making process is possible. The Shared Decision-Making Process was first introduced in 2012 and has worked wonders ever since. In shared decision-making, patient autonomy is taken seriously, and the patient is allowed to explore the treatment options recommended by their medical doctors, and find the one that’s most appropriate.
In 2013, Dr. Wei recruited the best available cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, imagining specialists, and anesthesiologists at the time, to perform Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). The multidisciplinary TAVR team has so far successfully performed 626 TAVI procedures: its success rate (98%) is the highest in Asia, and our oldest TAVR case aged 102 when receiving the surgical treatment.
Since the prevalence rate of Heart Failure (HF) has been ever on the increase, and managing HF can be tremendously devastating for both those who have the diagnosis, and their family members, the Heart Centre invited also pharmacists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, and psychiatrists to team up with the cardiac doctors and specialists, to form the Heart Failure Healthcare Team in 2017. Apart from surgically implanting Left Ventricular Assisted Device (LVAD) into patients who have reached end-stage heart failure, the Team supplies knowledge, information, tools and resources to help our patients and their caregivers cope with whatever issues they have to confront in all aspects of life.
 
If you are looking for the best cardiac healthcare provider, now you must know that you need to look no further. Obviously, your best choice can be no other than the Heart Center at Cheng Hsin General Hospital.