The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) recently completed the training for the sixth batch of international physicians in the “Dubai technique”, a new approach to heart surgery.

Dr Talib Majwal, consultant, Interventional Cardiology and director of Interventional Cardiology, Dubai Heart Center at Dubai Hospital pioneered the technique in January 2013 and so far he has treated more than 100 patients using this method.

The technique is now being taught to cardiologists from across the world through training sessions that are conducted in Dubai Hospital.

Dr Majwal said: “Today we completed training the sixth batch of cardiologists that comprised of doctors from Austria, Holland, Belgium and Kuwait. They conducted 25 catherizations using this method for patients between the age group of 39 to 75 years. The patients were from UAE and abroad and suffered from complex heart blockages.”

Dr Majwal said the training programme lasted for two days and discussed in detail the effectiveness of the treatment and ways to implement it.

He said by the end of this year, 50 international cardiologists and medical students will visit Dubai Hospital for this training.

He added that colleges and international institutions have put forward the names of students to learn this technique.

“When we began using the ABSORB technique, we realized we would modify it to treat complex blockages of the main artery or a branch of the artery. We modified the technique and it worked beautifully to solve complex cases that were otherwise difficult to treat,” Dr Majwal said, explaining the technique.

“The technique uses an insertion of a bioresorbable scaffold into an affected coronary artery to keep it open and thereby promote the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart.

“This procedure is better than using a ‘stent’ into a diseased artery because the stent is a permanent fixture that remains in the blood vessel, making the vessel similar to a cage, the scaffold progressively dissolves over a period of two years, leaving the artery widened but with no trace of the device left,” he added.

He said that the technique has been well received and is being used by various European countries now. “Our aim now is to train doctors from different parts of the world to use this technique so that cardiac patients with complex arterial blockages can benefit from this new technique.”

The technique has received overwhelming response from the international medical fraternity and Dr Majwal has presented this technique is London, France, Italy and Germany as well as to doctors in Paris via live transmission. – TradeArabia News Service