Dr. Ng Kwan Chung

Dr Kenneth Ng is a cardiologist at Novena Heart Centre.

His interest is in caring for patients through preventive cardiology. With more than 10 years of experience in this area, Dr Ng has an interest in advanced heart failure, which he manages through artificial heart pumps, heart failure surgery and heart transplantation.

Prior to his move to private practice, Dr Ng served as the director of the heart failure programme in the National Healthcare Group, Singapore from 2003 to 2007. He also previously served at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), where he was instrumental in establishing the heart failure programme as well as the surgical and mechanical assist device therapy programme.

Upon his graduation from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in 1992, Dr Ng obtained his postgraduate degrees in the UK and Singapore in 1998. He then went on to complete his cardiology advanced specialty training at TTSH. Following that, he left for the US under the Health Manpower Development Plan award. There, he underwent a 15-month fellowship programme at the Cleveland Clinic, where he focused on echocardiography and heart failure transplantation. In 2009, he returned to the same clinic for an observership programme in heart failure, transplantation and assist device therapy.

He was a former visiting consultant at the National Heart Centre Singapore and is a visiting consultant at the Gleneagles Jerudong Park Medical Centre, Brunei.

He has many research articles on heart failure in peer-reviewed international cardiology journals as well as several book chapters to his name. In the ASEAN region, he is widely recognised as an expert in the field of heart failure and is a frequent invited lecturer at both local and regional conferences, such as the Asia Pacific Congress of Cardiology. At the international level, he has not only given lectures at meetings such as the American Congress of Cardiology annual scientific meeting, but also chaired meeting sessions at the International Society of Heart Lung Transplantation. He was the vice-president of the Heart Failure Society (Singapore) and co-chairman of the heart failure advisory committee, Singapore Cardiac Data Bank.

Dr Ng is also a clinical tutor at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and a chief instructor for the Advanced Cardiac Life Support course. He has been invited to Malaysia and Brunei to conduct the courses there. In addition, he is a board-certified cardiologist in adult comprehensive echocardiography in the US, which is issued by the National Board of Education.

Echocardiography

Intra-aortic balloon pump insertion & management

Swan-Ganz catheter insertion

Cardiac catheterisation

Transoesophageal 2D echocardiography (interpretation) (TEE)

Regional / International Journals

A study of post-stroke depression in a rehabilitative center. Acta Pyschiatrica Scandiavica 1995;92:75-79.

Post-stroke depression: outcome following rehabilitation. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 1995; 29:609-614.

Obesity of the occurrence of heat disorders. Military medicine 1996;161:739-742.

Cytokine levels in patients with previous heatstroke under heat stress. Military Medicine 1999;164:306-310.

Management programmes for heart failure. Heart 2004;90:972-974.

Diastolic function improves more after off-pump compared to on-pump myocardial revascularization. American Journal of Cardiology 2005;95:647-50.

The benefits of biventricular pacing in heart failure patients with narrow QRS, NYHA class II and right ventricular pacing. Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology 2007;30:193-198.

Book Chapters

O’Neill J, K Ng. Heart failure with preserved systolic function. PP119-130. Manual of Cardiovascular Medicine, Second Edition, Editors Brain Griffin, Eric Topol, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins 2004, Philadelphia, USA.

K Ng, O’Neill J. Non-transplantation surgical treatment for chronic heart failure. PP152-160. Manual of Cardiovascular Medicine, Second Edition, Editors Brain Griffin, Eric Topol, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins 2004, Philadelphia, USA.

Co-Authored

Lim J,Lal S,Ng KC,Ng KS,Saha N,Heng CK. Variation of the platelet glycoprotein IIIA PIA1/A2 allele frequencies in the three ethnic groups of Singapore. International Journal of Cardiology 2003;90(2-3):269-273.

The effects of prolonged passive heat exposure and basic military training on thermoregulatory and cardiovascular responses in recruits from a tropical country. Military Medicine 1997;162:623-627.

J Lim, RC Hawkins, K Ng, SP Chan, A Cheng KS Ng. A preliminary study of the utility of combined cardiac markers in the evaluation of patients presenting early with suspected acute coronary syndrome. Annals of Academy of Medicine Singapore 2002;31:772-6.

Gill DS, Ng K, Ng KS. Massive pulmonary hemorrhage complicating the treatment of acute coronary syndrome. Heart 2004;90:e15.

Wong TW, Huang XH, Liu W, Ng K, Ng KS. New electrocardiogram criteria for identifying the culprit artery in inferior wall acute myocardial infarction – usefulness of T wave amplitude ratio in lead II/III and T wave polarity in right V5 lead. American Journal of Cardiology 2004;94:1168-1171.

Foo D, Ng K. Extracardiac cause of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Heart 2005;364.

O’Neill JO, McRae AT 3rd, Troughton RW, Ng K, Taylor DO, Yamani MH, Young JB, Starling RC. Brain natriuretic peptide levels do not correlate with acute cellular rejection in de novo orthotopic heart transplantation recipients. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2005;24:416-20.

Kedia N, Ng K, Apperson-Hansen C, Wang CH, Tchou P, Wilkoff BL, Grimm RA. Usefulness of atrioventricular delay optimization using Doppler assessment of mitral inflow in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy. American Journal of Cardiology 2006;98:780-5.

Hawkins RC, Ng K. B-type natriuretic testing is associated with reduced cost in patients with secondary diagnosis of heart failure. Clin Chim Acta 2007;377(1-2):276-8.

Lee R, Chan YH, Wong J, Lau D, Ng K. The 6-minute walk test predicts clinical outcome in Asian patients with chronic congestive heart failure on contemporary medical therapy: A study of a multiracial population in Singapore. International Journal of Cardiology 2007;119:168-75.

Lee R, Chan SP, Chan YH, Wong J, Lau D, Ng K. Impact of Race on Morbidity and Mortality in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure: A Study of the Multiracial Population in Singapore. International Journal of Cardiology 2009;134(3):422-5.

Tan LC, Ng KK, Au WL, Lee RK, Chan YH, Tan NC. Bromocriptine use and the risk of valvular heart disease. Movement Disorders 2009; 24(3): 344-9.

Lee R, Chan SP, Wong J, Lau D, Ho KT, Ng K. Impact of diabetes mellitus on survival in South East Asian Patients with congestive heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction. International Journal of Cardiology 2010;142(1):97-100.

Tan LC, Ng KK, Au WL, Lee RK, Tan NC. Bromocriptine use and myocardial function. Movement Disorders 2011;26(5):923-4.

Zhong L, Ng KKC, Sim LL, Allen JC, Lau YH, Sim DKL, Lee RKK, Poh KK, Chua TSJ, Kassab GS, Kwok BWK, Tan RS. Myocardial contractile dysfunction associated with increased 3-month and 1 year mortality in hospitalized patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction. International Journal of Cardiology 2013; 168:1975-1983.

Started the heart failure programme and the surgical and mechanical assist device therapy programme at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and National Healthcare Group

Started the left ventricular assist device programme in the private sector at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in 2011