Clemenceau Medical Center Hospital in Dubai performs Aortic Valve Replacement Using Cutting-Edge Technology
Clemenceau Medical Center hospital in Dubai has successfully performed Aortic Valve Replacement using the novel Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) technology, making it one of the very first to adopt this new generation of valves in the Middle East.
Speaking on the development of the UAE’s healthcare system and the vision of Clemenceau Medical Center Hospital Dubai, Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulaziz Khansaheb said: “The hospital has set a long-term objective to attract world-renowned healthcare specialists who would play a pivotal role in advancing the UAE’s healthcare sector, which is already of high standards. Today, we’re proud to announce such an extraordinary achievement in just two years. This gives us more drive to reach even more important milestones in the future”.
Mr. Khansaheb added: “A patient flying into the United Arab Emirates to undergo such a critical surgery at the Clemenceau Medical Center hospital in Dubai is, by itself, a great indicator of the hospital’s contribution to the progress of the medical tourism sector in the country.”
Dr. Wassim Shatila, Head of the Structural Heart Program, performed the surgery with the assistance of a medical team comprising the Head of the Heart Failure Unit Dr. Righab Hamdan, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Walid Shaker, and the Head of the Anesthesiology & Resuscitation Unit Dr. Nauras Idriss.
The intervention required the replacement of the aortic valve in a forty-year-old patient with history of cancer, weak cardiac muscle, extreme narrowing in the aortic valve, and difficult breathing. Following a careful discussion of the severe condition, open-heart surgery was considered at high risk, and the medical team decided to opt for a TAVI procedure instead.
From his end, Dr. Wassim Shatila, Head of the Structural Heart Program at Clemenceau Medical Center hospital in Dubai, confirmed that performing Aortic Valve Replacement surgery using these new valves has revolutionized the treatment of similar cases. He said: “This high-precision procedure requires the intervention of cardiac catheterization specialists and the medical team at Clemenceau Medical Center hospital in Dubai is nothing short of brilliant, with some of the best doctors and consulting surgeons in different specialties, especially in cardiovascular surgery and catheterization, not to mention the hospital’s highly capable medical staff.”
Also commenting on the achievement, Dr. Righab Hamdan, Head of the Heart Failure Unit at Clemenceau Medical Center hospital in Dubai said: “The Heart Failure Unit team successfully managed to treat the patient’s weak cardiac muscle for several months prior to the valve replacement surgery, whereby he underwent an intensive treatment program within the unit. Following the treatment’s success, the condition stabilized and the patient was able to undergo the aortic valve replacement surgery without any significant complications or side effects.”
Dr. Shatila expects the number of patients benefiting from these new valves to increase, as the latter can be used to treat tens of patients in the UAE per month among those suffering from complex chronic diseases, including older patients who need their valves replaced but cannot undergo high-risk open-heart surgeries.
