24 hour heart attack emergency service in Dubai

German Heart Centre in Dubai Healthcare City today announced it is in the process of opening such an emergency centre within the City Hospital, which should be fully operational by summer of this year (2008).

Heart attacks are the most common cause of death in the United Arab Emirates, which has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the world.

Around a third of all heart attack victims die of sudden cardiac death, and if proper treatment is not provided within the first hours, death or crippling weakness of the heart will occur. The effects are devastating for the patients and their families.

A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery supplying the heart itself with blood is narrowed by calcium and fatty acid deposits. When such a deposit ruptures, a blood clot forms within the artery and closes it, causing injury and subsequently death of the heart muscle nourished by the occluded artery.

But, if instant treatment is provided, the development of severe heart attacks or disability can often be avoided. Until recently, the preferred form of treatment was through medication to dissolve clots in the occluded artery. The results were good, but were far from perfect, as sometimes the clot is not dissolved. Also, the underlying lesion is not healed but is often smoldering on, resulting in further heart attacks during the following months.

Dr. Klaus Kallmayer, chairman of the German Heart Centre Bremen with facilities in Germany and Dubai Healthcare City, explained the new preferred treatment

He said: "Extensive scientific studies in Europe have now shown acute interventions with balloon catheters followed by implantation of a stent have a far better and persisting success rate.

"It was proven patients fared better when brought directly to a heart centre with a catheterization unit, where coronary angiography will show the site of the blockage and the lesion can be removed mechanically.

"The demand on such a service, however, is extremely high. International standards require an experienced team of interventional cardiologists alongside a team of technicians are on standby on a 24/7 basis and there are clear pathways including patient transport, as every minute counts. Such a program has not been even been established yet in some countries with highly developed medical services."

German Heart Centre Bremen, however, was among the first centres to establish such a program in Germany. Now all heart attack patients in the northwestern region of Germany are brought directly to the Myocardial Infarction Centre and treated without delay. In 2007 alone, more than 1,200 infarctions were treated successfully and many hundreds of lives were saved.

Dr Kallmayer explained how the new service will improve Dubai's emergency service provision.

"Currently emergency heart attack patients in Dubai are transported to hospitals, which are built for other emergencies like trauma patients, but have no established pathways or technical and personnel infrastructure for internal medicine emergencies, such as heart attacks or strokes.

"Added to this, the transport to and preliminary treatment carried out at such a hospital is a dangerous waste of time for patients, who should immediately be brought to a highly experienced and dedicated 24/7 interventional cardiovascular facility.

"Staff using a catheterisation laboratory and treating heart attack patients must be highly trained in this specialty and have permanent hands-on experience. Heart attack patients are unstable and a huge number of unforeseeable complications can occur.

"As a result, cardiologists with vast experience are needed to operate in these extreme situations and on a 24 hour basis.

"As a branch of one of Germany's busiest heart programs the Dubai Healthcare City centre can draw on some of the most experienced staff in Germany. All German Heart Centre's Dubai-based doctors are part of the same German program, and each doctor is required to spend a large amount of time in the German facility to be constantly exposed to a high number of cases, which is the key to providing optimal care and ensuring there are no under worked and inexperienced specialists."

German Heart Centre Bremen has joined forces with the City Hospital, a first class tertiary care hospital currently being built at Dubai Healthcare City, due to open in summer 2008. The driving force behind City Hospital, the South African MediClinic group, one of the world's biggest private healthcare providers, has appointed Dr Klaus Kallmayer to the position of director of cardiology, in order to create a premier hospital-based heart service in Dubai.

German Heart Centre Bremen and the City Hospital are currently working out standards matching those of its facilities in Germany and South Africa. Both parties are currently devising a master plan to establish a world class acute cardiovascular care centre at the City Hospital in Dubai Healthcare City.

German Heart Centre Bremen opened in Dubai Healthcare City in mid 2006 and is offering a full heart and vascular program within its DHCC out-patient facility, in-patient interventional and emergency services using its own staff at Welcare Hospital until the City Hospital opens.