In a new achievement, and in a global experiment classified as the first on humans, Kuwaiti Dr Ali Sahib participated with a medical team from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, in an operation to replace the aortic heart valve, through catheterization, using a unique modern valve technique.
Ali Sahib, a specialist in interventional and structural heart catheterization, told Al-Qabas that the experiment in which he participated with the Canadian team “included 23 patients, and witnessed the use of a modern valve, which is in the process of being studied, and is not currently available in the market.”
Dr. Ali added, “The results are excellent, and can chart a path in the future for heart valve replacement operations with catheters,” pointing to “the publication of the results of this experiment in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.”
He expressed his happiness at “the participation of an international medical team, capable of making a change in the field of heart valve treatment through catheterization, and the success of this experiment,” indicating that he was “excited to transfer this technology to Kuwait in the near future.”
Regarding this new technology, Doctor Ali told Al-Qabas that “the operation includes making a small hole in the thigh, under local anesthesia, and takes 60 minutes, so that the patient is discharged from the hospital after only one day,” explaining that “the previous 15 years witnessed the development of the replacement technique.” The aortic valve is through catheterization, while the only solution was previously surgical intervention to replace the valve through open heart surgery.