A life-saving emergency procedure was recently performed at Nanxiang Hospital in the Jiading district of Shanghai — rescuing a 57-year-old Danish man who suffered a sudden acute myocardial infarction.
Thanks to the prompt treatment, he has recovered and has been discharged.
Doctors from Nanxiang Hospital pose with the recovered Danish patient after his life-saving heart surgery. [Photo/WeChat ID: sh-jiading]
At 10:30 pm on July 19, the patient arrived after 15 minutes of chest pain. He was pale, sweating and was short of breath. An electrocardiogram showed a potential left main coronary artery blockage and he experienced two episodes of ventricular fibrillation.
Zhang Fangliang, the cardiology director, said the situation was critical. The hospital activated its chest pain emergency protocol.
Despite language barriers, following family consent the team performed a coronary angiography, revealing the complete blockage in the left anterior descending artery and a 90 percent narrowing in the right.
The team acted swiftly, restoring blood flow with a stent by 11:49 pm. Quick coordination and advanced techniques were key to reopening the blocked artery.
During recovery, the hospital provided culturally sensitive care. The patient steadily improved. "I'm deeply grateful to the Chinese doctors," he said. "Chinese speed gave me a second life," he added.
Zhang noted that the reopening took only 79 minutes after admission and 94 minutes from the onset of the symptoms, both within national chest pain center standards.
The hospital remains committed to improving emergency care for all its patients.