Dubai: An 82-year-old, who suffered from a heart attack and heart failure at Dubai Airport, has been given a new lease of life, thanks to doctors at the Rashid Hospital.
The patient, who complained of sharp pain in his chest and had trouble breathing at the airport while transiting from the UK to Nigeria, was immediately transferred to Rashid Hospital.
Dr Fahd Baslaib, interventional cardiologist and CEO of Rashid Hospital, said an echo test found that the patient was suffering from aortic stenosis, which is one of the most serious valve disease problems. Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve opening, restricting the blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body.
“We informed the patient that he had to replace the aortic valve using angiography, which is a minimally invasive, endovascular procedure to implant a new valve or to replace the diseased aortic valve. But the patient opted to go back to the UK and get the surgery done there. So we stabilised him and he travelled to the UK,” said Dr Baslaib.
Two months later, the patient came back to Rashid Hospital, where he informed the cardiology team that he wanted to get the procedure done by them.
“I want to do the procedure in Rashid Hospital because I was happy with the medical care I received and during the consultations I had in the UK, I felt that I am more comfortable here,” said W.A. who added that the hospital was a centre of excellence for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI).
The patient was readmitted to Rashid hospital, where his case was further studied before performing the complex procedure.
“The UK report stated that the patient’s main arteries were in good condition but the echo test showed that he in fact had severe stenosis, not only in his main coronary arteries, but also his left carotid artery, which is one of two major arteries that carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain,” said Dr Baslaib.
Dr Baslaib said that due to the high complexity of the case, the patient was treated in three phases.
“I led the heart team in performing an angioplasty and stenting of the major coronary arteries to widen the obstructed arteries including the left main artery with three stents to decrease their chances of narrowing again. After four days, Dr Ayman Al Sibaei, interventional radiologist at Rashid Hospital and his team performed an angioplasty and stenting of the left carotid artery,” said Dr Baslaib
After five days, Dr Baslaib and Jasim Al Hashimi, head of cardiology at Dubai Hospital led the TAVI team, which consists of doctors from both Rashid and Dubai Hospitals a perform a TAVI procedure (the cardiac surgery and vascular surgery teams were on standby).
Dr Baslaib explained that TAVI, which is short for transcatheter aortic valve implantation, is a procedure that allows an aortic valve to be implanted using a long narrow tube called a catheter.
Dr Baslaib said that all three procedures were successful and that the patient was discharged in good health.
The 82-year-old is back in Nigeria with his family, from where he thanked Dubai doctors for saving his life.