Center to train overseas medical staff in valve intervention procedures

Multidisciplinary approach leads care for elderly, high-risk patients

Officials from the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and global healthcare company Abbott pose for a commemorative photo after a plaque ceremony held at the hospital Wednesday to mark the designation of the cardiovascular center as the Asia-Pacific Center of Excellence for transcatheter aortic valve implantation. [Seoul St. Mary's Hospital]
Officials from the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and global healthcare company Abbott pose for a commemorative photo after a plaque ceremony held at the hospital Wednesday to mark the designation of the cardiovascular center as the Asia-Pacific Center of Excellence for transcatheter aortic valve implantation. [Seoul St. Mary's Hospital]

The Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced Thursday that its cardiovascular center has been designated South Korea's first Asia-Pacific Center of Excellence for transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI, by US healthcare company Abbott.

The hospital held a plaque ceremony Wednesday to mark the designation. Abbott Structural Heart Division President Woo Sang-gil and cardiovascular center professor Jang Ki-yuk of the cardiology department attended, along with other officials, to celebrate the designation and discuss plans for joint research and education programs.

The designation elevates the hospital's role beyond that of a facility using Abbott's TAVI products — it will now serve as a training hub, passing on procedural expertise to medical professionals across the Asia-Pacific region.

Attendees heard a product presentation and hands-on training session led by an Abbott TAVI Asia-Pacific trainer, followed by a case presentation by professor Jang. The group then moved to a hybrid operating room to observe Jang perform a live procedure.

The selection process evaluated not only procedure volume but also a comprehensive set of clinical outcomes — including the diversity of patient profiles treated, such as elderly and high-risk patients, procedural success rates and complication rates. Assessors weighed sufficient procedural experience, patient diversity, treatment outcomes including complication rates within 30 days of a procedure, and the competency of the designated proctor physician.

Building on the capabilities validated through this rigorous assessment, the hospital plans to play a central role in raising cardiovascular care standards across the Asia-Pacific region and strengthening its global network.

The cardiovascular center has been running an overseas medical training program since 2024, having trained 25 specialist physicians to date. On top of that, the hospital plans to further expand its structured education and training programs following this latest designation.

Since performing its first TAVI procedure in 2012, the cardiovascular center surpassed 1,000 cumulative cases in January 2024 — the second-highest cumulative total in South Korea. With an initial procedural success rate of 99 percent and a 30-day survival rate of 97.5 percent, the center has now completed more than 1,400 procedures and earned international recognition across clinical practice, education and research.

For years, the center has earned the trust of the global healthcare industry, receiving consecutive Center of Excellence designations from multiple leading companies — the Abbott HeartMate3 Center of Excellence in 2023, the Medtronic TAVI Center of Excellence in 2024, and the Microport Asia-Pacific Center of Excellence in 2025.

"Being consecutively designated as a training center by world-class companies means that Korean medical professionals are now shouldering a key role in international valve intervention education — I see this as raising the profile of K-healthcare to a new level," said Jeong Woo-baek, a cardiology professor and clinical director of the cardiovascular center. "We will continue to serve as a hub for training global medical experts and to pursue education and research collaboration with medical professionals at home and abroad."


woo@heraldcorp.com