A combined team of experienced surgeons from Abu Dhabi-based Mafraq Hospital and Sheikh Khalifa Medical City conducted a successful brain aneurysm coiling surgery on an Emirati woman, a first for the GCC region.

75 year old Moza Al Balushi, suffering from hypertension, is recovering well after the surgery, confirmed the doctors at the hospital.

A team from Mafraq Hospital and SKMC, after co-ordination from the neurosurgery, ICU, anesthesia, cardiology, vascular surgery and neuro-interventional service led by Dr Haider-Shah, the consultant physician at SKMC, diagnosed and conducted an emergency surgery to treat Al Balushi’s  ruptured aneurysm which caused a  grade 5 subarachnoid hemorrhage, and resulted from the patient’s hypertension.

“Endovascular repair, most often conducted using a ‘coil’ or coiling and stenting, is a less invasive way to treat some aneurysms as compared to traditional methods. As a result, the patient is likely to have a speedier recovery”, explained Dr Shah.

The surgical team used, for the first time in the region, a trans-carotid approach to treat a very deeply located, highly irregular appearing anterior cerebral artery aneurysm as well as tortuous arteries and a grade III aorta, which usually makes endovascular treatment almost impossible.

“This method is used often in Europe and North America for older patients, but has not been traditionally used in the GCC,” added Dr Shah.

Also for the first time in the region, doctors used an advanced StarClose device for the carotid artery closure after the aneurysm coiling to treat the brain hemorrhage. This device has been used to close the artery after injuries, but has not been traditionally used to close the artery after a neuro-interventional procedure.

Hypertension is the single most important risk factor for stroke and causes about 50% of ischemic strokes and increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke worldwide.  The World Health Organization has estimated that high blood pressure causes one in every eight deaths, making hypertension the third leading killer in the world.

The condition, commonly known as high blood pressure, affects 30 per cent of the UAE’s population.  Research suggests that hypertension in the UAE is 20 per cent more than the world average.  

“The origins of hypertension may be genetic; however for residents in the UAE, it mainly stems from the risk factors that are abundant in the lifestyle here, primarily obesity, diabetes and sedentary lifestyle including unhealthy food habits. The good news is that high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable”, explained Dr Shah.

Mafraq Hospital and SKMC are owned and operated by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) and, as such, collaborate often on cases.

“Both are owned by Seha which means we have access to specialists at each of our hospitals; we work together to ensure quality patient care and successful outcomes for all our patients, no matter which Seha hospital the patient enters,” said Dr Mohammad Yaman, the chief medical officer, Mafraq Hospital.-TradeArabia News Service