«Today we are not simply celebrating the opening of a new cutting-edge department, which fills a void felt by our community for too long, but we are laying the foundations for a medical school capable of combining the excellence of university research with the highest level of local care». With these words the Rector of the University of Calabria, Gianluigi Greco, commented on the inauguration of the new Cardiac Surgery Unit at the Annunziata Hospital in Cosenza. The leadership of the department has been entrusted to Luca Paolo Weltert, recently selected by UniCal as director of the cardiac surgery chair. He is a figure of international importance, capable of combining vast surgical experience and a strong vocation for research with a profound human depth, gained by operating in delicate international emergency contexts.
This morning, during a press conference, the full operation of the new cardio-thoracic-vascular block was illustrated. In recent days, in fact, the team has already successfully performed the first three surgical operations: the replacement of a unicuspid aortic valve, a triple coronary artery bypass graft and a combined operation on the ascending aorta, aortic valve and coronary artery bypass graft.
A strategic project for the territory. The activation of Cardiac Surgery fills a historical gap for the province. The new department, which can count on 16 dedicated beds and the help of three modern operating rooms within the cardio-thoracic-vascular block, is part of an innovative multidisciplinary department. The project had already begun to take shape in recent months with the hiring of Prof. as an extraordinary professor at UniCal. Daniele Maselli, undisputed national authority in cardiac surgery. Prof. Weltert joins prof. Maselli and a task force of the highest international caliber made up of university and clinical specialists already operating in the ward. Among these stand out Matteo Orrico, expert in minimally invasive techniques for complex aortic surgery and Director of the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, and Franca Melfi, an internationally renowned figure in the field of Thoracic Surgery and Director of the Cardio-Thoraco-Vascular Department.
It is a project that looks not only at the present, but at the training of future generations, as the Greek Rector underlined again during his speech: «UniCal, the Calabria Region and the Hospital Company work in profound synergy to grow human capital, investing first of all in the quality of people. We have focused on young, brilliant teachers with proven clinical and scientific experience. Our strategic horizon looks to the future: thanks to the contribution of prof. Maselli and prof. Weltert, the goal is to soon open a dedicated specialization school, capable of training future Calabrian heart surgeons so that they can finally grow and operate in their homeland, reversing the trend of healthcare emigration.”
«The opening of Cardiac Surgery at the Annunziata Hospital is a result that has been awaited by the population for about twenty years and which today, finally, becomes reality – declared the General Director of the hospital, Vitaliano De Salazar -. We are not just inaugurating a new department, but a structure destined to concretely change the response capacity of our healthcare system to the most complex cardiovascular diseases. Today is a milestone that required vision, planning and great teamwork. The Hospital has invested in the creation of a modern cardio-thoracic-vascular block and in the construction of a care path capable of networking different skills and professionalism. The first three operations carried out in recent days represent the most concrete confirmation that today this project is fully operational”. «Cardiac surgery – added De Salazar – was born, therefore, with an important responsibility: to offer citizens highly specialized treatments without forcing them to leave their territory. But it was also born with an even more ambitious perspective, that of building together with the University of Calabria a center of clinical, scientific and training excellence, capable of attracting professionalism, training new specialists and contributing to reducing healthcare mobility.”
«This Cardiac Surgery – underlined the prof. Weltert – was born with a clear vocation for excellence and with a profound spirit of service towards an area that has long been waiting for advanced treatments for time-dependent cardiac pathologies. This achievement, however, is the result of a joint effort and rigorous team work: a close transversal collaboration that involves the entire cardio-thoracic-vascular surgical department, management, laboratories, radiology and clinical cardiology. Only by joining forces and valorising different professional skills can we give a concrete response to patients’ needs.”
The profile of Luca Paolo Weltert
Born in Turin in 1976, Professor Weltert combines extremely high surgical specialization with a strong sensitivity gained in the field in international missions with the humanitarian organization Emergency. Before arriving in Cosenza, he served as medical director at the European Hospital in Rome from 2007 to the present, combining his clinical commitment with academic activity as an associate professor at the Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences.
In his career he performed approximately 3,000 cardiac surgeries, of which 1,300 as first operator. These include 500 cases of coronary artery bypass grafting, 350 valve replacement or repair procedures, complex aorta surgeries, and 180 transcatheter valve implantations (TAVI). He combines his activity in the operating room with research: he is the author of 114 scientific publications, with an H-index of 20 and 1,600 citations. He has held the role of Principal Investigator in several multicenter clinical trials (participating among others in the international ROMA, RHEIA and REST-ART trials) and, in 2023, received the Best Abstract and Presentation award at the EACTS Aortic Forum in Brussels. He is also the inventor and owner of two patents (one Italian and one US) linked to the development of an innovative emergency ventricular support device, a real “artificial heart” to support patients suffering from acute heart failure.