How Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is redefining heart care in the UAE

A growing destination for medical tourism and a rising regional leader in cardiac care, Abu Dhabi is setting new global benchmarks. With some of the most advanced interventions emerging from the capital, the heartbeat of innovation is sounding loudest at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Procedures once only seen abroad, such as minimally invasive, life-saving robotic heart surgeries, are transforming patient outcomes.

On World Heart Day, the hospital emphasises that every heartbeat counts, showing how advanced treatment, prevention, and community engagement merge to improve quality of life.

Home to one of the Middle East’s most comprehensive cardiovascular programmes, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi offers everything from minimally invasive procedures to complex surgeries, alongside prevention and rehabilitation services. This integrated model ensures patients receive advanced, multidisciplinary heart care right here in the UAE, shaping global conversation on heart health.

Advancing cardiovascular care

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, claiming nearly 20 million lives each year, according to the World Health Organisation. In the UAE, cardiovascular is one of the most common causes of hospital admissions. Yet in Abu Dhabi, what was once considered as impossible is increasingly becoming part of routine care.

Recognised as a Center of Excellence for Adult Cardiac Surgery by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has steadily built a reputation for pioneering advances in heart care. In its first year, the hospital performed the Middle East’s first robotic multi-vessel coronary artery bypass graft, followed by the region’s first robotically assisted mitral valve repair.

Its cardiovascular specialists also introduced continuous monitoring and intracardiac echo guidance during Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), a procedure the hospital has now performed more than 650 times. By replacing a narrowed heart valve through a catheter rather than open surgery, patients spend days rather than weeks in recovery, regaining independence and quality of life sooner.

More recently, the hospital became the first in the Middle East to perform a Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis (TBE) procedure, a minimally invasive repair for life-threatening aortic dissections. Unlike traditional open-chest surgery, which carries significant risks, TBE preserves blood flow to the brain and arm while repairing the damaged artery, reducing complications and speeding recovery.

These procedures not only save lives but restore patients’ ability to return to everyday activities, demonstrating how innovation directly impacts quality of life.

Technology and healing

Behind the operating room doors, technologies like the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, often called the heart-lung machine, are giving surgeons the ability to perform delicate procedures. By temporarily taking over circulation and oxygenation, the machine enables complex surgeries that save patients who might otherwise not survive.

Equally transformative is the hospital’s use of 3D surgical modelling. By creating patient-specific anatomical replicas, surgical teams can plan and rehearse intricate procedures before making a single incision. This innovation has already guided life-saving interventions in patients with rare cardiovascular anomalies, ensuring safer and more precise outcomes. Alongside these surgical milestones, the team has developed one of the region’s most extensive remote monitoring programmes for patients with cardiac implants.

Today, these technologies are part of a broader ecosystem that makes high-risk procedures safer, shortens recovery times, and improves outcomes. Most importantly, they restore independence, enabling patients to return to normal life. While technology drives much of this progress, its true measure lies in the lives it changes.

Innovation meets the future

The next decade of heart care will not be defined by one device or surgery, but by the integration of multiple technologies and approaches. In Abu Dhabi, that future is already unfolding. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute has become a regional referral centre for complex cardiac cases.

In 2024, it performed 839 cardiac surgical cases, 265 structural heart interventions and a ground-breaking first for the UAE, a combined heart and double lung transplant. Its reputation for innovation and outcomes has drawn patients from across the region, positioning Abu Dhabi as a hub for advanced cardiovascular care.

The hospital’s expertise in robotic-assisted surgery, once associated mainly with cancer or transplant procedures, is now being used to treat complex cardiovascular cases, setting new standards for precision and recovery.

Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping cardiovascular medicine. AI-enabled imaging tools help physicians detect disease earlier and with greater accuracy, while predictive algorithms are being piloted to identify high-risk patients before they develop complications. These innovations are transforming care from reactive to proactive, ensuring that intervention occurs when the disease can be most effectively managed.

Recognised internationally by the American College of Cardiology as designated International Center of Excellence, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has consistently delivered high-quality cardiovascular care through process improvement, professional expertise, and community engagement.

Building the UAE’s cardiac expertise

Innovation isn’t only about machines. The future of heart care depends just as much on the people who deliver it. At Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, a designated teaching hospital by the Department of Health ¬ Abu Dhabi, world-renowned physicians work alongside a growing cadre of Emirati caregivers.

Training programmes, fellowships, and research opportunities are preparing the next generation of healthcare specialists to carry forward world-class care in the UAE.

This focus on education has also been recognised at the highest levels. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is the first institution in the UAE to receive Provisional Accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), allowing it to provide accredited education to physicians, cementing its role not only as a centre of care but of learning. By nurturing local talent while attracting international expertise, the hospital is building a sustainable model of care for the UAE for generations to come.

Protecting the heart

On World Heart Day, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi emphasises that the fight against heart disease begins well before patients ever reach an operating room. The theme, ‘Don’t Miss a Beat’ reminds us that prevention and awareness are as important as advanced surgeries. Prevention extends beyond hospital walls.

Outreach programmes in schools, workplaces, and malls promote healthier living and embed prevention into the culture. With every advance, the chances to live and thrive grow stronger. In Abu Dhabi, the future of heart health is already here.