Cardiac surgery in Debrecen has a history stretching back more than six decades. The first closed heart surgery was performed by József Schnitzler, chief physician and then director of the clinic's predecessor institution, and Árpád Eisert, chief surgeon in Nyíregyháza. Their exemplary professional collaboration led to the launch of cardiac surgery in Debrecen. The first open heart operation using a heart-lung machine took place five years later, in 1968, and was performed by Dr. Gábor Kovács, a visiting professor from Szeged, together with Professor Schnitzler. In 1983, following Professor Schnitzler's retirement, Dr. Árpád Péterffy, associate professor of cardiac and thoracic surgery at Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, took over the management of the II. Surgical Clinic. Thanks to his knowledge gained abroad and his professional and work organization experience, cardiac surgery in Debrecen developed by leaps and bounds. As a result, the clinic has become one of the flagships of Hungarian cardiac surgery. Currently, the Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Clinic of the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen serves more than 2 million adults living in Hajdú-Bihar, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, and the eastern part of Heves and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok counties. This represents more than one-fifth of the country's population, making Debrecen's cardiac surgery department the largest cardiac surgery center in the region. Preoperative examinations of patients are performed by the invasive cardiology centers in the aforementioned counties. With the exception of heart transplants and artificial heart implants, our institute's activities cover the entire spectrum of adult cardiac surgery.
The cardiac surgery nursing ward has 37 beds in rooms with 2-4 beds and en suite bathrooms, while the modern intensive care unit has 12 beds. Approximately 900-1000 open heart surgeries and 400-450 other procedures are performed annually in the clinic's three operating rooms. In recent years, the number of open heart surgeries has been among the highest among cardiac surgery centers in Hungary. In addition to our obligation to provide care, patients also come to our clinic from outside the country to undergo heart surgery.
In addition to inpatient care, the clinic also offers cardiac surgery and physiotherapy services.
In recent years, several new procedures have been introduced in cardiac surgery in Debrecen. Worth mentioning is the expansion in the number and types of plastic solutions that allow for the preservation of diseased mitral and aortic heart valves. For example, in cases of aortic valve insufficiency caused by aortic root dilation, the patient's own aortic valve can be preserved by implanting it into a vascular prosthesis (aortic valve reimplantation). We were the first in Hungary to use several new procedures in the treatment of aortic dissection. We implant the largest number of sutureless aortic prosthetic valves in Hungary. In 2013, in close collaboration with our cardiologist colleagues, we performed the first successful aortic valve implantations using a catheter-based procedure, and the number of such procedures now exceeds 200 per year. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy, performed with the aid of a special mechanical circulatory support device, has been introduced for the treatment of circulatory failure that cannot be controlled with medication after heart surgery, as well as circulatory failure caused by acute myocarditis.
In 2025, aortic valve replacement via a small incision in the chest was resumed, followed by the introduction of aortic and mitral valve surgery via a right subaxillary incision, which will soon be followed by less invasive coronary artery bypass surgery performed on a beating heart without the use of a heart-lung machine. These so-called minimally invasive procedures have numerous advantages over traditional surgical incisions made along the length of the sternum. The smaller incision causes less damage to the tissues, thereby reducing blood loss and post-operative pain. The hospitalization is shorter, and patients recover more quickly and return to their normal lifestyle and physical activity sooner. Last but not least, the smaller scar ensures a more favorable aesthetic result.
The average age of patients undergoing heart surgery is increasing year by year, and serious comorbidities are becoming more common. However, mortality has remained essentially unchanged and has even decreased in the last year. This is due, among other things, to the fact that during surgery we pay increased attention to protecting the heart muscle and continuously monitoring brain function. To this end, we have introduced new procedures such as the use of blood cardioplegia to improve the protection of the heart muscle during surgery, flooding the surgical field with carbon dioxide when opening the heart chambers to prevent air embolisms, continuously measuring the oxygen supply to brain tissue using infrared rays, and continuously monitoring the blood supply to the brain during certain types of surgery.
The rehabilitation activities that followed the already high-quality heart surgeries have been perfected in recent years. The clinic's outpatient rehabilitation program is now nationally recognized.
Our clinic places great emphasis on providing our patients with the most modern care. For this reason, our doctors and specialist staff regularly participate in and give presentations at domestic and international scientific conferences and theoretical and practical training courses. In addition, we maintain close clinical and research cooperation with several clinics at our university and with a number of foreign institutions, and we also participate in several international studies.