In army cardiac services were started in cardiothoracic Centre, MH Rawalpindi in 1953. First angiography was performed in 1969 and first open heart surgery was done in 1970. This centre was upgraded as Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in 1978. Just 3 years after, to extend the services to fellow citizens, government servants and poor patients this institute was upgraded to National Institute of Heart Diseases (NIHD) under President Directive No. 216 of 1981.
This 270-bedded hospital is a major tertiary cardiac care center in Pakistan, dedicated to the cardiac patients from over the country including Armed Forces, Federal Government employees and civil population. AFIC/NIHD is an extremely busy centre equipped with 19 bedded Coronary Care units, 19 bedded surgical ITC, Departments of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Echocardiography, Exercise Tolerance Test and Nuclear Cardiology. There are three fully equipped Catheterization laboratories capable of complex coronary and cardiac interventions. It has six cardiac surgical theaters capable of all kinds of adult and pediatric cardiac surgery. We perform approximately 1600 cardiac surgical procedures yearly, 80% of them are open heart surgery.
About 32000 Trans-thoracic and 600 Trans-esophageal echoes, 1000 Exercise Tolerance Tests, 450 Myocardial perfusion scans, 6000 diagnostics coronary angiographies and 500 cardiac catheterizations, 1000 coronary angioplasty and stenting, 350 temporary and 250 permanent pacemakers implantations, 250 diagnostics and therapeutic cardiac electrophysiology procedures are performed in this institute every year. Hospital has its own well-equipped pathology and radiology unit. Facilities of CT angiogram scan are also available in our center.