Muscat: An Omani medical team at the government-run Royal Hospital in Muscat has succeeded in performing an innovative operation to implant a device in the left atrial appendage of a heart patient.
The patient suffered from atrial fibrillation, an irregular, often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow. The patient had to take blood thinners, which boosted the incidence of bleeding in his body.
The new catheter procedure avoids open-heart surgery and the patient can lead a normal life after two days of having the surgery.
The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approved the use of this procedure this year.
The surgery was conducted by a team at the Royal Hospital, headed by Dr Mohammad Bin Khamis Al Mukhaini, senior consultant of cardiovascular disease, and head of the Department of Cardiology at the National Medical and Cardiac Surgery Centre, and Dr Najeeb Bin Zahran Al Rawahi, electrical heart disease consultant, in collaboration with anaesthesiologists and nursing staff.
The procedure reduces the likelihood of a stroke and bleeding in the body.
