The future of cardiac surgery in Australia. A prediction from a 15 year experience

Statistics are presented which demonstrate that the load of congenital heart surgery in Australia is between 900 and 1,000 cases per year. For valvular heart surgery the load is also approximatley 1,000 cases per year. About 800 to 900 operations are undertaken annually to institute cardiac pacing. The number of operations for coronary artery disease has increased in an explosive manner from less than 100 cases in 1970 to more than 1,000 cases in 1975. The implications of this marked increase in operation for coronary artery disease is of paramount importance for future planning in cardiac surgery.