Despite the challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) persistently continues providing personalised and innovative treatments through Heart Hospital for the various types of patients, including patients whose health condition requires emergency therapeutic catheterisation to treat strokes.
Treating cardiac and cerebral strokes by removing clots through therapeutic catheterisation is one of the modern methods and techniques that HMC medical teams have been following for many years, as they are the most effective methods, which have proven extremely successful in saving many lives and minimising the negative effects and the consequent damages resulting from these clots.
Senior Consultant Cardiologist at the Heart Hospital Dr Omar al-Tamimi said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the precautionary measures taken by hospitals in various parts of the world, the Heart Hospital did not stop providing treatment services to various patients, including emergency therapeutic catheterisation to treat heart attacks, as the medical teams at the Heart Hospital take all necessary precautions and protective measures to, successfully, combat Covid-19. Hence the number of daily heart cases treated in the Heart Hospital is not affected; whereas more than 1,000 severe and acute heart strokes have been treated, in 2020, through therapeutic catheterisation, to raise the number of the cases treated since the provisioning of round the clock therapeutic services, seven years ago, to 6,000 cases with a total success of 95%.
He pointed out that during the pandemic, this emergency catheterisation was performed on a number of patients who were found to have Covid-19, adding about 60 cases of those infected with the virus have been successfully treated since the beginning of the pandemic until now. Dr al-Tamimi added that diagnosing the patient’s condition as an acute heart attack is by determining the type of pain, changes in the ECG, rise in heart enzymes and other criteria. Then, the patient is transported through the ambulance service to the Heart Hospital, specifically to the Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory for emergency catheterisation to open the blocked artery. The more rapid the intervention is during the first 90 minutes of a stroke, the better is the result, and the less is the damage resulting from the blockage of the artery, he said.
Dr al-Tamimi explained that the emergency cardiac clot is usually the result of a blood clot in one of the coronary arteries that causes it to be completely blocked. Here, the intervention is through the emergency catheterisation treatment by inserting an ultrafine tube through an artery in the upper thigh or the wrist, he said, adding the tube is connected to the coronary arteries and then the arteries are injected by this tube with a coloured material and X-rays are made from various angles to identify the damaged artery. Then, it can be determined if there is a problem such as narrowing or complete blockage, and the treatment is usually using a balloon and placing a stent and sometimes it is possible by opening the artery by sucking and pulling the clot with certain devices. This process often takes only about 40 minutes for most patients, but some cases may require a longer time due to the varying changes according to the type of patients, he said.
The use of emergency therapeutic catheterisation is not only limited to treating heart clots, but HMC has also been proactive in using it in treating strokes.
In this context, senior consultant and director of the therapeutic catheterisation unit for vascular nervous system at Hamad General Hospital Dr Ayman Zakaria explained that despite the challenges being faced by the medical sector in Qatar as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the unit continued to provide services to vascular patients of various age groups such as structural defects, atherosclerosis, birthmarks in the brain and spinal cord, haemorrhagic aneurysms and treatment of cerebral thrombosis. He added that the vascular therapeutic catheterisation of the nervous system at HGH is currently witnessing, since the launch of the unit in 2016, an annual increase in the number of cases. The number of the cases treated during the past six years approximately reached 3,000.
He added that Qatar is the first to successfully use these technologies in the region and save many lives, and the unit is one of the best vascular centres. Due to its reputation, some patients from outside Qatar come from the neighbouring countries to avail curative services.
HMC heart hospital
