Heart Hospital (HH), a member of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), recently held the Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery Conference 2015. The event featured distinguished international experts from the USA, Turkey and other countries in the GCC.
Dr Abdulwahid al-Mulla, senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at HH and chairman of the organising committee said, “The conference was aimed at sharing the latest advances in robot-assisted and minimally-invasive cardiothoracic surgery, as well as recent developments in this field in Qatar. It also offered an opportunity for cardiothoracic surgeons from GCC countries to hold a meeting, on the sidelines of the event, to discuss future collaborations in robotic and minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery.”
A number of world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeons shared their expertise and highlighted the latest advances in cardiothoracic surgery during the event, including Prof Wiley Nifong, a renowned expert from the USA with a record of more than 1,250 surgeries over the past 15 years, Prof Cem Alhan from Turkey, and Dr Husam Balkhy from the USA.
The conference featured eight research abstracts from Qatar, including a study on endovascular aortic repair, a modern alternate to surgical repair, presented by Dr Hassan al-Thani, head of Trauma and Vascular Surgery at HMC.
Dr Ali Kindawi, senior consultant cardiac surgeon at HH, delivered a presentation on minimally invasive mitral valve surgery in Qatar, and said that this type of surgery has been successfully introduced at the hospital as an advanced management technique that can be used in place of traditional surgery, in some cases.
“Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery provides an excellent solution for many heart patients, as it is performed through minimal surgical thoracic incision. In addition, this type of surgery reduces the length of stay for patients in the hospital and prevents the potential complications of open heart surgery. Patients are usually able to return to their homes soon after and engage in their regular daily activities,” Dr Kindawi said.
He added that the hospital has built a multi-disciplinary team consisting of two surgeons, an anaesthesiologist, a respiratory therapist, a technician and four nurses, who undergo ongoing training to manage this type of surgery.
During the event, Dr Rashid Mazhar, senior consultant in cardiothoracic surgery at HH, also spoke about the Qatari experience in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, highlighting that 20 robot-assisted heart surgeries were conducted at the hospital this year alone.
Moreover, an overview of robot-assisted coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) at HH was also highlighted at the conference. Dr al-Mulla said that 56 such surgeries had been conducted at the hospital since 2009.