Cardiac Breakthrough Stent surgery webcast live

Dubai "Is something wrong? There are so many people outside," said Mohammad Al Syed as he was wheeled out of the cath lab at the Dubai Heart Centre in Dubai Hospital on Wednesday.

A resident of Ras Al Khaimah, the 29-year-old Egyptian had just undergone a critical heart procedure following a blockage in his main artery but had not expected the media to be waiting in such large numbers.

But as it turns out, this was the first time the life-saving procedure called Unprotected Left Main Stenting was being accorded a live global webcast.

Regional feat

Dr Taleb K. Majwal, Director of Interventional Cardiology, Dubai Heart Centre, who did the procedure, said the webcast was being watched live by a panel of 12 surgeons of the EuroPCR, the official congress of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI).

"It is a breakthrough for the region and has put Dubai on the global map of medicine," he said.

He said Al Syed had developed chest pain while playing football about three weeks ago. When the pain recurred that night, he decided to see a doctor. An angiogram at Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah revealed that his coronary artery was blocked.

When he was referred to Dubai Hospital, Dr Majwal decided to do a stent procedure instead of bypass surgery given the complexity of the case and the young age of the patient.

Dr Majwal said the procedure, which takes about 20 minutes, has many advantages as there is no need to open up the chest. A small puncture is made under local anaesthesia in the abdominal area to open the artery and insert the stent.

There is no bleeding or infection either. Moreover, the patient can be back on his feet within four hours and can be discharged the same day. "I didn't feel any pain," said Al Syed, who was awake all the time.

While the procedure is free for Emiratis, it costs around Dh30,000 for expatriates.