Major advances in heart disease treatment have made a revolutionary impact in the lives of patients, said Dr Albert E Alahmar, consultant interventional cardiologist at Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Dubai.

The advancement in the area of percutaneous intervention holds an important role in this and has changed traditional open heart surgery methods, he said.

Dr Albert E Alahmar said structural heart disease is quite common and can affect all ages. "Traditionally, most of these abnormalities are treated with open heart surgery. However, over the last decade, new treatment options have evolved and can be delivered through a keyhole and relatively small tubes," he said.

He said that the heart team and operators' expertise are key part of the treatment process to guarantee all procedures are performed with high quality and safety.

Major treatments can be offered through a keyhole in the artery/vein in the groin or the wrist and under local anaesthetics.  These include: Unblocking the coronary arteries and deploying stents in patients with angina or acute heart attack, closing holes in the heart (ASD/VSD) with special devices, replacing the narrowed or incompetent aortic valve (TAVI) and  iplanting devices in a small chamber of the heart (left atrial appendage) with irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrilation) for life.

Source: Khaleej Times