JEDDAH, 13 October 2004 — The second annual conference on adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) opened here yesterday. Expanded into a two-day event this year, the conference boasts 20 experts from as far afield as Omaha, Nebraska, Hamburg, Germany and Kuala Lumpur covering four main areas of ACHD.
“The two disciplines of pediatric and adult cardiology are now working together to produce a multidiscipline approach,” said Professor Muhammad Galal, the chairman of the conference.
Professor Galal stressed the importance of the highly specialized field to the Kingdom’s future well-being and welcomed the enthusiasm shown by specialists around Saudi Arabia for the center, the first in the Kingdom, based at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah. “The incidence of ACHD is significant,” he said, “because cases are presenting in adults who could have been cured as children.”
Dr. Nasser Mahdi, chairman of the cardiovascular department at KFSHRC and one of the co-founders of the specialist department, concurred. “We wanted to establish the department on evidence-based medicine,” he said. “Some years ago, the community lacked widespread top-quality health care, especially pediatric health care.” This prompted the drawing together of the adult and pediatric divisions of cardiology into a recognized sub-specialty and the establishment of a successful specialist unit.
“The cardiovascular department deals with one of the most important disease categories in the Kingdom,” said Dr. Tariq Linjawi, chief executive officer, KFSHRC. “I anticipate that it will remain so for the next 20 years or so. Congenital heart disease in adults is not well known but is vitally important. Part of our job is to educate the public both about this and about heart disease in general.”
He believes the reason for the continuing rise in heart diseases is two-fold. Pointing to previous research, he said congenital heart disease had links with the consanguineous marriages that are traditional in the Kingdom. “The other major aspect is modern lifestyle and dietary habits. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital has education — both for the public and the medical profession — as one of its core missions, together with service to patients and continued research.”
