16.04.2025 21:10
Professor Dr. Ertan Sağbaş, who performed the surgery on Sırrı Süreyya Önder, provided information about the current situation to Tuncer Bakırhan, Co-Chair of the DEM Party. Sağbaş stated, "There is an improvement in one of the parameters related to circulation, and it seems that the bleeding has stopped. He appears to be trying to breathe on his own. He reacted when his daughter entered the room."
The Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a member of the DEM Party and the İmralı delegation, was hospitalized last night due to heart problems. Önder, who was brought to a private hospital in Çağlayan, Istanbul, underwent surgery at 23:30 due to a rupture of the aorta. Önder's surgery, which lasted approximately 12 hours, was completed early this morning. Önder, whose life is in critical condition, was then moved to intensive care.
"ÖNDER REACTED WHEN HIS DAUGHTER ENTERED"
Prof. Dr. Ertan Sağbaş, who performed Önder's surgery, provided information to Tuncer Bakırhan, the Co-Chair of the DEM Party. Sağbaş stated, "There is an improvement in one parameter related to circulation, and the bleeding seems to have stopped. There is a situation where he is trying to breathe on his own. He reacted when his daughter entered the room. These are good signs, but the issue of not pumping on the right side of his heart continues. The machine that takes over the body functions is performing the duties of the heart and lungs," he said.
Prof. Dr. Çavlan Çiftçi, the Rector of Demiroğlu Science University, made a statement to the press waiting in front of the hospital regarding Önder's health condition after he was operated on at Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital. Çiftçi explained that Önder was brought to the hospital's emergency unit by 112 ambulance teams without a pulse, intubated, and accompanied by heart-lung resuscitation. He reported that spontaneous circulation was achieved after approximately 10 minutes of heart-lung resuscitation in the emergency department.
After the pulse was obtained, an emergency echocardiography revealed a diagnosis of type 1 aortic dissection, Çiftçi noted, "Type 1 aortic dissection involves bleeding into all layers of the aorta, including the main aorta that exits the heart, the aortic arch, and the descending aorta. Subsequently, at 23:05, our patient experienced a rhythm disturbance, and the pulse and circulation stopped. The patient was urgently taken to the operating room, and the operation began at 23:35. Our operation lasted 12 hours," he stated.
"ONE OF OUR LARGEST HEART SURGERY OPERATIONS"
Prof. Dr. Çiftçi reported that it was determined during the surgery that the aortic dissection started from the right coronary artery and involved the entire aorta, and continued:
"A coronary bypass was performed on the right coronary artery in sequence, the aortic valve was replaced, and then grafting and anastomosis procedures were completed along the entire aorta. Unfortunately, this dissection starting from the right coronary also caused a small rupture and perforation, which we refer to as a rupture. This dissection, which affects the aorta and is classified as type 1, is one of our largest heart surgery operations. In fact, it is a surgery with a very high mortality rate and a very high risk to life. Again, due to the size of this dissection and its involvement of the right coronary artery that supplies the heart, the ECMO (cardiac circulation support device) that was placed during the surgery resulted in contraction in the left ventricle while there is still no contraction in the patient's right ventricle. The reason for the lack of contraction in the right ventricle is that the starting point of the dissection is in the right coronary, and the patient has experienced a right ventricular infarction. After all these procedures lasting nearly 12 hours, our patient was taken to the intensive care unit with ECMO support, meaning with the support of the mechanical cardiac circulation device. He still maintains his life-threatening condition, and his treatment continues in intensive care."
"HE COMPLAINED AND COLLAPSED"
Prof. Dr. Erkan Sağbaş, who performed Önder's surgery, stated that aortic dissection is one of the most challenging health issues to treat in heart surgery.
In this case, he explained that the dissection started from the point where the main artery exits the heart and extended back to the aortic valve, saying, "The right coronary is one of the arteries that carries oxygen to the heart. The right coronary was trapped in the dissection, and there was also a slight tear at the mouth of the right coronary. This dissection blocked the mouth of the right coronary. This was likely one of the main reasons why Mr. Sırrı collapsed after complaining when he arrived at the emergency room," he said.
"THERE WAS ALSO A CRISIS AFFECTING THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE HEART"
Sağbaş stated, "Due to the dissection and the involvement of the right coronary, a heart attack was also added. So there was both dissection and a crisis affecting the right side of the heart. Therefore, it was a severe pathology. We noticed this and immediately performed the bypass, corrected the aortic dissection and the aneurysm. However, since the heart was very battered and had taken a lot of hits, we let it rest a bit," he said.
HEART WAS RESTED AND BLEEDING CONTROL WAS PERFORMED
Sağbaş noted that the procedures were completed around 04:00 in the morning, but they rested the heart and performed bleeding control, stating that the surgery took 11-12 hours. He mentioned that they had performed many dissection surgeries of this type before, but Önder's condition was one of the most complicated dissections he had seen in a long time. Expressing their exhaustion, Sağbaş said, "You are performing surgery for 12 hours without losing all your concentration; this is not an easy task."
Sağbaş explained that Önder had previously been diagnosed with aortic dilation, and his condition, which was not at the intervention threshold, was being monitored with medication.
"AORTA WAS PURPLE, RUPTURED, AND DILATED"
Describing Önder's health condition when he was brought to the hospital, Sağbaş said, "The aorta was purple, ruptured, and dilated. We took him to the operating table with massage, and we transitioned from the groin veins to the heart-lung machine with massage. Once the body circulation was relieved, we stopped the massage. The heart had stopped."
"REALLY IN A VERY CRITICAL POSITION"
Sağbaş emphasized that they performed the surgery with a large team specialized in aortic surgery, stating, "After this, it is not possible to talk about a long-term prognosis for a patient who is on ECMO, intubated, and receiving high doses of heart-supporting medication. It is not possible for us to say, 'This will happen at this hour, this will happen today.' We monitor our patient by evaluating real-time data and adjust his treatment accordingly. We have seen partial adjustments in some parameters with ECMO, but our patient is really in a very critical position. We do not discuss long-term outcomes; it is not possible for us to say anything to you."
```html
Meanwhile, the 11th President Abdullah Gül, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, Deputy Mayor of Istanbul Nuri Aslan, some deputies from the DEM Party and CHP, and many visitors came to the hospital to get information about Önder's health status.
Many local and foreign press members are also on duty in front of the hospital to report on the developments.
WHAT IS AORTIC DISSECTION?
Aortic dissection is a serious and life-threatening medical emergency that occurs when a tear forms in the inner layer of the aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart, allowing blood to flow between the layers of the artery wall, separating them (causing dissection).
Type 1 dissection starts from the ascending part of the aorta and can progress down to the descending aorta and into the abdomen. In other words, it can spread throughout the entire aorta.
.
```