Greenslopes Private Hospital
Part of Ramsay Health Care

News

Lesson in cardiology

Mar 13, 2017

Heart rhythm cardiologist Dr Karen Phillips has recently returned from a teaching tour in Japan where she instructed cardiologists to perform the Watchman implant procedure for the first time in their country.

The keyhole operation delivers a small implant inside the heart to prevent stroke for patients with Atrial Fibrillation, allowing them to avoid lifelong blood thinners.

Dr Phillips (pictured third from the right) has been performing the revolutionary procedure at Greenslopes Private Hospital since 2009.

She spent one week teaching Japanese cardiologists the procedures, with multiple patients treated successfully across four hospitals in Tokyo and the northern cities of Sendai and Morioka.

Dr Phillips is among several international experts from Australia, Canada and the USA who will visit Japan periodically in 2017 while Japanese doctors gain experience in the new procedure.