Taiwanese Hospitals Unite to Combat 'Silent Killer' Hypertension and Boost Heart Care

Cardinal Tien Hospital is strengthening its cardiovascular care services through collaborations with leading medical institutions, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Far Eastern Memorial Hospital. This initiative aims to combat hypertension, often termed the 'silent killer' due to its asymptomatic nature, and to elevate the quality of care for patients with complex cardiovascular diseases.

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Hypertension is known as the 'silent killer.' Many people become careless because they have no symptoms, only realizing the danger when their heart function is already compromised.

The hospital recently hosted an event, 'Tien Protects the Future of Hearts: 722 Blood Pressure Action and Cardiovascular Center Achievement Sharing,' to highlight these efforts and raise awareness. The collaboration involves joint case discussions, particularly focusing on complex coronary artery disease, and has seen support from National Taiwan University Hospital physicians who provide outpatient services and catheterization treatments.

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Coronary artery disease is not formed overnight but is the result of years of accumulating risk factors leading to vascular hardening and narrowing.

Two significant cases illustrate the success of this inter-hospital cooperation. One involved a 73-year-old man with a history of hypertension whose left ventricular ejection fraction dropped significantly, indicating severe heart failure. Another case featured an 87-year-old woman presenting with chest tightness, diagnosed with highly complex three-vessel coronary artery disease (CAD-3VD) with a high SYNTAX score. Both patients underwent successful interventions through the combined expertise of the medical teams, demonstrating the benefits of cross-institutional collaboration in tackling challenging cardiac conditions.

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If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoke, are obese, or have a family history, you should get regular health check-ups. In daily life, you must implement the '722 measurement principle' (measure continuously for 7 days, twice in the morning and evening, twice each time, take the average). Controlling high blood pressure, quitting smoking immediately, is the only solution to stay away from the crisis of a broken heart.