Mark Abelson MBBCh, MRCP, FCP

Dr. Mark Abelson is not only an honest, forthright, professional cardiologist but also an avid cyclist, paddler, walker, and outdoor enthusiast. On the academic front, he studies medical journals and keeps up to date with the latest literature. He is one of the few cardiologists in private practice who publishes his work experience in peer-reviewed journals. He is highly skilled in the cardiac catheterization theatre in the coronary, carotid, and stroke fields. He is "born to work" in this field.

He has placed nearly 150 carotid stents ( the vast majority are in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis) with a mortality rate of 0.7% and a major stroke rate of 0%. This is significantly better than the expected complication rate of 3-6%.

He has pioneered the use of mechanical embolectomy for acute stroke patients in South Africa since January 2007. This has given patients admitted at Vergelegen Medi Clinic with very large strokes a good chance of a reasonable, and sometimes complete, recovery that would ordinarily not have been possible. He has published this work in peer-review international journals. He has been invited to hold training workshops in Europe to help train cardiologists there in this field.