Overview and Mission

The Department of Cardiology is located within the Macquarie University Hospital Precinct, giving it access to state-of-the-art surgical equipment, operating microscopes, imaging and technologies in the operating room. The department also interfaces with many other areas of clinical practice, including radiology, oncology, vascular surgery and allied health support.

The department offers patients a comprehensive suite of services and prides itself on excellence in patient care, which results from an integrated approach that brings together clinical care and research excellence. Cardiology patients at Macquarie University Hospital are offered some of the most advanced procedures and therapies in Australia.

The Department of Cardiology is headed by Professor Hosen Kiat, who is Professor of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine. Professor Kiat is one of the Foundation Professors at Macquarie University Medicine who oversaw the conception and development of the Australian School of Advanced Medicine and the Macquarie University Hospital. Professor Kiat brings to the position a strong background in medical curriculum development, imaging research and preventative cardiology.

Clinical Services

The Department of Cardiology offers a full range of services required for total management of cardiac conditions, including:

• In and outpatient cardiac consultative services.

• A comprehensive range of non-interventional and interventional diagnostic services:

• Non-interventional diagnostic testing such as echocardiography (ECG), stress ECG, exercise and pharmacologic stress echo testing, permanent pacemaker and other cardiac device assessments; in collaboration with Macquarie Medical Imaging (MMI), the department offers cardiac CT and cardiac MR as well as a full spectrum of nuclear cardiology services, including cardiac FDG PET-CT and sestamibi SPECT studies.

  Interventional diagnostic evaluations including right and left heart cardiac catheterisation, coronary angiogram, transoesophageal echocardiogram and electrophysiology testing.

• Cardiac interventional management, including balloon angioplasty, rotational atherectomy, bare metal (BMS) or drug-coated (DES) stent placement (percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI) procedures.

• The cardiology department also has a special focus in cardiac electrophysiology therapeutic services for the management of heart rhythm disturbance, using the state-of-the-art minimally invasive technology (Radiofrequency Ablation or Cryoablation) for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AF), ventricular tachycardia (VT) and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).

• The department has a very active cardiac device implant service, implanting high-tech electrical devices, most of them under local anesthetics, from single or dual chambers pacemaker, novel pacemakers safe with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) in heart failure patients, to the advanced combined automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (AICD) and pacemaker systems for patients at risk of sudden cardiac death, and the miniature (microchip) implantable loop recorder which monitors heart rhythm for months or years to investigate patients with fainting spells and palpitation. 

• Cardiothoracic surgeries which are routinely performed at Macquarie University Hospital include coronary bypass, cardiac valves repair or replacement procedures, repair and replacement surgeries of the thoracic aorta for conditions such as aortic aneurysm, electrical surgeries for treatment of AF and VT, certain pacemaker implantation, as well as lung and thorax surgeries for multitude indications such as tumours, emphysema and infection. In the near future, at Macquarie University Hospital, some of these surgeries could be performed with minimally invasive, robotically assisted approach.

• The state-of-the-art cardiac facility at Macquarie University Hospital includes a 10-bed dedicated Coronary Care Unit (CCU), joint use of a 10-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU), general cardiology ward, cardiac catheterisation and electrophysiology laboratories as well as cardiothoracic operating theatres. The cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons on staff at the hospital provide a 24-hour on-call service for Macquarie University Hospital patients.

Specialist Team and Research Program

The Cardiology Department is staffed by more than 30 cardiology academics, clinical cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, scores of well trained specialist cardiac technologists and nurses, radiographers and IT experts.

The department – in collaboration with other members of Macquarie University Medicine and various medical and surgical departments of Macquarie University Hospital, as well as with other universities and teaching hospitals, government bodies and industries – has an active research program in diagnostic, interventional, therapeutics, imaging and preventative cardiology, and proactively pursues continuing medical education – a professional development requirement of the department.