Management of cardiovascular disorder in Zimbabwe: 1989-1992.

The challenging task of establishing a cardiothoracic unit with open-heart surgical capability in a third-world setting emphasised the clinical need for such a facility but underscored the economic and logistic difficulties hampering its successful implementation. The common occurrence of advanced rheumatic valvular disease and the inordinately high incidence of congenital cardiac disorder in the indigenous Zimbabwean population mandates a need for their successful surgical management. The progressive maturation and dynamism of an established cardiothoracic unit necessarily requires it to pay attention to patient needs, to provision of an on-going educational programme at all staff levels and to the promotion of a relevant research policy.