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Dr. Mehmood Butt, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Director, Cardiac Catheter Laboratory at King's College Hospital Dubai, reflects on the state-of-the-art facilities and services offered by one of the top heart health-related hospitals

What factors lead to heart blockages especially amongst residents in the UAE?

A number of factors can be responsible for the development of cardiovascular diseases — they can be broadly divided into modifiable and non-modifiable factors. The blockage in the cardio arteries can be multifactorial, however one factor may be dominant when compared to the others. Some of the modifiable factors we know, for example diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. However, one must understand that family history and the genetic predisposition of having coronary heart diseases is something that is more recognisable in the last few decades. It is also important to understand that whilst ageing, you do not have to have any other risk factors to develop heart problem because old age itself is an independent factor.

Similarly, Asian and Arabic cultures tend to have a higher risk of heart problems than Caucasians. We believe that there are many undefined environmental factors which have lead to an increase in coronary diseases — particularly the level of toxicity in the air, the industrialisation in countries as well as the prevalence of processed food — all have contributed to the changes in our cells, which has in turn has increase our risk factor.

Are there any new procedures or technology that the Surgery Department is pioneering in this field?

At King's College Hospital Dubai, we are able to perform all heart-related emergency and elective procedures. We have the necessary equipment, facilities and skilled staff to cater for a wide variety of health issues. However, we continuously want to improve and align ourselves with international organisations. Lately, we have added a few procedures which other hospitals do not perform such as Shockwave Therapy and Orbital Atherectomy. These help in treating very complex cases, such as the ones where the patients who decline a bypass. With the Shockwave Therapy, we deploy a special balloon when we perform the angiogram and we crack the calcium by delivering certain frequency of sound waves. This is a painless procedure with a 98 per cent success rate and we are able to crack the calcium, enabling us to treat the blockage with a stent rather than by performing a bypass.

Similarly, we have also started doing Orbital atherectomy where we use a special microscopic drill, which turns the calcium to dust which is then washed away. It cleans the artery perfectly and then, if need be, the said artery can be stented.

How is King's College Hospital Dubai celebrating World Heart Day?

The best way to celebrate World Heart Day is by raising awareness that heart condition remains one of the top three causes of death worldwide. We must talk about the impact of modern living and environment, which can lead to developing heart conditions. It is important that we involve the general public and create an awareness on what to watch out for. We need to educate them on the importance of doing regular exercises, developing dietary habits, managing work stress and preventing cardiovascular risk factors.

What makes King's College Hospital Dubai stand out from others?

At King's College Hospital Dubai, we like to keep very high standards in terms of delivering care with maximum safety and quality. We are very proud to state that at the hospital, the disability and death from any cause of heart condition is extremely low and is at par with any world class institution. We are very happy to share our data with the general public and our staff, which promotes transparency and trust.

Secondly, we firmly believe in teamwork. This does not limit to the hospital staff only, but also includes the patient. We are proud to say that we actively involve the patient in the decision process . In fact, we ensure in most of the cases, patient takes the lead in the decision-making process, whilst we educate them on the risks and benefits of the given investigation, procedure or the strategy. It is important that the patient is fully involved along with their family and is fully onboard any of the future steps we take.

— ali@khaleejtimes.com