THE number of open heart surgeries in the sultanate rose to 206 last year, with the president of the Brunei Cardiac Society describing the situation as alarming.
During the Third Annual Cardiology Conference, Dato Dr Hj Md Isham Jaafar said the number of patients with cardiovascular disease has been increasing every year.
In 2010, only 140 patients underwent open heart surgery.
“Being a small country with a population growth rate of less than two per cent per year, this is alarming,” he said.