American Hospital Dubai offers comprehensive care for kidney disorders

Damage to your kidneys can cause serious problems as chronic kidney disease develops over time and worsens gradually. It can eventually lead to end stage kidney disease or kidney failure that may require dialysis or transplantation. To help prevent extreme complications, the highly reputed nephrology and urology s pecialists at American Hospital Dubai offer a comprehensive chronic kidney disease program. The hospital provides diagnosis and treatment to support kidney function, identifies risks and makes sure that patients get appropriate and top-quality kidney care.

State-of-the-art nephrology department

Nephrology is an Internal Medicine specialty addressing conditions related to impaired kidney function. The Nephrology department at American Hospital Dubai strives to provide a high standard of evaluation and treatment for kidney disorders in adults. It has a team of dedicated, well trained and experienced nephrologists, committed to providing excellent care in different settings: outpatient clinic, dialysis unit, inpatient wards. Suffice to say that you will get treatment and best dialysis in Dubai when you need it. The Nephrology Department has a state-of-the art hemodialysis unit with modern design, spacious single rooms, modern digital hemodialysis machines, very well trained, experienced and compassionate hemodialysis nurses. In addition, the nephrology doctors keep patients under examination to make sure the condition remains under control, and also keep a check on the effects of medicine and dialysis after each session. The department addresses conditions such as chronic kidney disease including end-stage renal disease; proteinuria (protein in the urine); hematuria (blood in the urine); hypertension - essential and uncontrolled, or secondary; Electrolyte and acid-base imbalances (excess or deficiency of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, bicarbonate); anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease; Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones); and edema (fluid retention in the body). The procedures conducted include: kidney biopsy, acute and chronic hemodialysis and hemodiafiltration, continuous renal replacement therapy (CVVHD, CVVHDF) and therapeutic plasma exchange.

Technologically advanced urology department

Urology encompasses all conditions that are related to the urinary tract among both males and females. The American Hospital Dubai’s highly specialized Urology Department provides expert care for all diseases related to the urinary tract system, as well as the male reproductive organs. The organs under the domain of urology include the adrenal glands, kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra, and the male reproductive organs. Urology Dept in AHD is covering multiple subspecialities including neuro-urology, complex bladder disorders and all types of surgeries, in particular robotic assisted keyhole surgery. . As a result, they get used to going through technically complicated procedures. We have advanced equipment which enables us to offer multiple treatment options, in particular also minimally invasive treatment for prostate and urinary tract stones. In addition, all urologists are part of multidisciplinary teams to discuss state of the art treatment, to meet international benchmarks and to ensure best possible outcome under all medical aspects as well as to meet the patients’ expectations.

Fusion guided biopsy

American Hospital Dubai was the first place to introduce advanced technology in early detection of prostate cancer. From end of 2016, we have been doing specific MRI investigations of the prostate and a highly sensitive way of prostate biopsy, known as ultrasound guided targeted prostate fusion biopsy. The MRI is very accurate and provides high specificity to assess the potential risk of prostate cancer. According to recent studies, this technology helps to avoid many unnecessary biopsies and shows superior results in the screening and even treatment of prostate.

How is fusion guided biopsy different?

Traditional examinations have often given doctors inconclusive evidence of prostate cancer. In any case of uncertainty about the presence of prostate cancer, a biopsy (taking tissue samples) from the prostate had to be performed in a random manner. It had a low specificity and cancer detection rate. At the same time, there was a risk to miss the cancer even in case the biopsy did not show malignancy. Now a dedicated “multiparametric” MRI of the prostate has become the gold standard of evaluation of the prostate – for instance, in any case of abnormal PSA. If there are suspicious findings in the MRI, an “ultrasound guided targeted prostate fusion biopsy” needs to be performed. It means, the MRI defines the target in the prostate and a specific ultrasound machine allows an image merger of MRI and intraoperative ultrasound to find the target. The MRI has helped to avoid multiple unnecessary prostate biopsies and enhances the quality, accuracy and specificity of the remaining truly indicated biopsy procedures dramatically. The MRI comes with a specific standardized reading, the PIRADS score, which is applied by specifically trained expert radiologists to enhance the diagnostic quality and the information value for the clinicians. The patient first goes through an MRI exam and the suspicious areas marked and are then redefined by real time transrectal prostate ultrasound.

Afterwards, the fusion software provides physicians with a detailed 3D ultrasound view. With the help of the 3D image, the urologist is able to precisely guide the biopsy needles to the lesion tissue which cannot be done through the traditional method of blind biopsy. Every patient, as long as the MRI has been abnormal, is eligible for fusion guided biopsy. Fusion Guided Biopsy has far greater benefits for patients than traditional testing methods as the chance for misdiagnosis has become much less.

Some of the benefits for Fusion Guided Biopsy are:

* The targets can be clearly defined.

* The biopsies can be directed very precisely into and around the suspicious areas.

* This way of prostate biopsy is more likely to detect clinically significant prostate cancers and at the same time avoids overdiagnosis and treatment.

* The Fusion Guided Biopsy also significantly reduces the number of biopsies a patient has to go through since results are much more precise.

Other treatments offered by the urology department are:

Rezum Treatment: Also known as convective radiofrequency water vapor thermal therapy, this is a non-surgical treatment that uses the natural energy stored in steam to remove excess prostate tissue that is exerting pressure on the urethra and causing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and other urinary issues. Apart from REZUM, We are able to offer a wide range of conventional and new treatment alternatives for benign prostate enlargement.

Sacral Neuromodulation: This treatment works by re-training and re-educating the sensory and motoric nerves of the bladder and help to restore urine control.

Robotic surgery: Surgeries for urologic conditions such as prostate or kidney cancer can be incredibly invasive, painful, and have a long recovery period, but now urologists have started to recommend robotic surgery to their patients. This minimally invasive technique provides treatment of urological diseases in a more precise and safer manner.