Dr. Tan Chong Hiok is a cardiologist and interventional cardiologist. He is the only cardiologist in Singapore who has undergone accredited training in both echocardiology and interventional cardiology. With his dual accreditation, Dr. Tan offers patients a well-balanced opinion. He has won a prestigious award in a global interventional event organized by the CTO Club for chronic total occlusion.
Dr. Tan has extensive experience in performing stenting of the left main artery and for chronic total occlusion (CTO) where arteries have been completely blocked for a long time. He is also very experienced in seeing to complex cases which involve patients who decline bypass surgery. Dr. Tan is an accredited echocardiologist certified to perform 2D, treadmill stress, dobutamine stress, and transesophageal echocardiography.
Dr. Tan graduated from the University of Leicester in 1989. He then underwent training in various subspecialties and completed his cardiology training in 1999. After which, he honed his skills in echocardiology in Sydney and published several papers in this subspecialty during a one-year stay.
After his sabbatical in Sydney, Dr. Tan returned to Singapore and worked at Changi General Hospital. During this time, he also took up training in interventional cardiology. He left for a second sabbatical in Seoul to further develop his skills in angioplasty at one of the world’s leading centers for stenting the left main artery. Upon returning to Singapore, Dr. Tan spearheaded intervention via the radial approach at Changi General Hospital.
Dr. Tan is actively involved in research and teaching. Maintaining a link with academic centers ensures that he remains knowledgeable about advanced technologies. He returns to public institutions regularly to supervise, teach on, and perform both echocardiology and interventional cases. He has given many presentations at international meetings and has been an invited faculty member for various international conferences such as Asia PCR and TCTAP.
His specialty interests are coronary heart disease, coronary angioplasty and stenting, critical cardiovascular disease, echocardiography imaging in heart care, interventional cardiology, and preventive cardiology.
Most heart attacks involve persistent discomfort in the centre or left side of the chest that last for more than a few minutes or one that comes and goes.
Other signs and symptoms of an impending heart attack include shortness of breath, pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, and back, as well as feeling lightheaded or unusually tired.
Learn about ways to take care of your heart health here.
