JEDDAH, 14 September 2005 — The King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center has performed over 2,000 open-heart surgeries since its opening four years ago. “Sixty percent of these surgeries pertain to pediatric congenital heart defects and the rest to adult cases,” Dr. Ahmad Jamjoom, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, said yesterday. Adult surgeries include coronary artery implantation and repair or replacement of cardiac valves, he told Arab News.
The hospital has successfully carried out lung implantation surgery and is fully prepared to perform heart transplantation surgery as well. “The hospital utilizes an artificial temporary heart to rehabilitate pediatric patients after complex surgeries,” he said.
According to Dr. Jamjoom, the success rate of open-heart surgeries is about 97 percent. “This success demands a collaborative team effort from cardiologists, including four pediatric cardiologists, anesthesiologists, operating room personnel, and highly competent nursing and technical staff. Our hospital is a unique center in the Western Province, as it possesses complete resources enabling it to treat cardiac congenital deformities.”
He warned of an increasing incidence of heart disease if smoking, obesity, hypertension and other related problems were not checked or tackled. “These are all considered constituent risk factors of heart disease,” he said, adding that seven to eight percent of the Kingdom’s population is afflicted with heart disease, secondary to one of the risk factors. Of these 30 to 40 percent are hypertensive and 12 to 15 percent diabetic.
Among the hospital’s adult cardiac patients, 50 percent are diabetic and 50 to 60 percent have high cholesterol levels. These are secondary factors related to their lifestyle, poor nutrition, obesity, use of hydrogenated oils and poor awareness of the risks of high cholesterol levels.
The hospital’s cardiovascular disease department holds campaigns each year at one of the city’s commercial centers. The campaign titled “For a healthy heart” is aimed to enhance public awareness of heart disease. A team of medical staff, sports medicine specialists and physiotherapists contribute to these campaigns by providing the public with guidelines for protection from heart disease, testing cholesterol levels and measuring blood pressure for individuals and predicting the likelihood of heart disease occurring in the next 10 years.
Dr. Jamjoom recommends that the use of non-saturated oils be reduced. Reheating or reusing oils, including non-hydrogenated oils are also a harmful practice.
He said the hospital’s cardiovascular department was a pioneer in the area that provides training to Saudi technicians in radiology, cardiography and cardiac monitoring.
The hospital established the first center in the Kingdom for diagnosing and managing adult congenital cardiac defects. Its research department seeks new studies and embraces the most recent technologies in cardiology, he said, adding that the hospital organizes four medical conferences on cardiology and recent advances in cardiac management every year. Several workshops in certain subspecialties like echocardiography and pediatric intensive care were organized last year.
International cooperation agreements have been reached between the hospital and centers in Europe and the United States.
