Press Release: The Inter-Balkan Medical School of Thessaloniki is also a pioneer in the training of internationally recognized Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons
Press Release
Thessaloniki 22/06/2023
Interbalkan Medical Center of Thessaloniki leads the way in the training of internationally renowned Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons
Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Vlasis Ninios, Director of the 2nd Cardiology Department of the Interbalkan Medical Center, continues at an unabated pace to train leading scientists in transcatheter mitral valve replacement procedures using the innovative AltaValve device.
Professors of Interventional Cardiology Paul Sorajja and Cardiac Surgery Vinnie Bapat, from the Minneapolis Heart Institute in the USA, travelled to Thessaloniki and attended procedures at our Hospital in order to observe and receive training on an actual case of transcatheter mitral valve replacement.
Dr. V. Ninios, after completing a series of procedures in five European countries, began training distinguished physicians in the USA, with his first stop at Los Robles Hospital in Los Angeles, where he successfully completed the first procedure of its kind in America together with Dr. Saibal Kar, MD, one of the world’s leading Interventional Cardiologists.
This was followed by similar successful procedures at the hospital in Minneapolis (Minneapolis Heart Institute) with Dr. Paul Sorajja and Prof. Vinnie Bapat, as a follow-up to their previous visits to the Interbalkan Medical Center of Thessaloniki and to Oklahoma Heart Hospital.
The Structural Heart Disease Team of the 2nd Cardiology Department, headed by Mr. Vlasis Ninios, has extensive international experience and is certified in the training of physicians in transcatheter methods for the treatment of valvular heart disease, while it was the first team worldwide to perform a fully transcatheter mitral valve replacement.

