The Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al-Mane opened on Saturday morning 14/04/2007, at the KFMC Grand Hall, the first scientific symposium of Prince Salman Center for Heart Medicine and
The Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al-Mane opened on Saturday morning 14/04/2007, at the KFMC Grand Hall, the first scientific symposium of Prince Salman Center for Heart Medicine and Surgery. The meeting aims to review the latest developments in cardiography for equipping cardiography units in the Kingdom with the latest technology in the field.
The Minister of Health said the meeting involved a number of international experts in cardiology and cardiac surgery, who transferred their experiences to the Kingdom.
He explained his concern regarding the increasing numbers of heart patients in the Kingdom, attributing the phenomenon to previous diseases such as diabetes. According to Dr. Al-Mane, the increasing percentage of heart patients in the Kingdom is 400%. The future may even bring more numbers unless causative underlying diseases such as diabetes are confronted.
The Manager of Prince Salman Center for Heart Medicine and Surgery Dr. Moustafa Yousef said the meeting is the first meeting of its type in the Kingdom. It involved participants from Canada, UK, and USA, who discussed the latest treatment methodologies for heart diseases.
He said the Center has been equipped with a new catheterization instrument which has been purchased by a total cost of SR14 million, a big value when compared to a maximum cost of SR7 million for all other equipment usually used in heart treatment. The Center has started last week operation of the new system, which performs heart catheterization through magnetic resonance.
Formerly cardiologists used to control catheterization manually, taking a long time and subjecting themselves and the patients to more x-ray. But now doctors trained on the new system can control the operation with more efficiency and safety.
The patients targeted by the new system are those who suffer from electrocardiac disturbances as well as those who are complaining from congenital heart defects. It has to be mentioned here that KFMC is intending to establish a unit for children heart patients, which will be the best in the Middle East.