American Hospital Dubai to introduce new heart bypass technology

The treatment is used in heart bypass surgery and helps ensure that the patient does not require further corrective surgery to the veins which are taken from other parts of the patient's body and used to repair the heart.

Professor Dr Uwe Klima was the first heart surgeon in the world to use the E-mesh technology, whilst practising in Singapore. Dr Klima, who was recently appointed as Chief of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the American Hospital Dubai, will introduce the technology to the region for the first time.

"It was a great privilege to be the first heart surgeon in the world to use the new external mesh technology," says Dr Klima. "It is an external 'stent' which is used in bypass surgery, where veins taken from other parts of the body are used as arteries to correct heart defects. The problem was that veins were not designed for this purpose and only have a limited life of 10-15 years before further corrective surgery is needed.

"The E-mesh slides over the vein and contracts it to the diameter of an artery, helping maintain blood pressure and blood flow. So far, around 100 cases have been undertaken at centres around the world and the post operative results after six months have been fantastic, minimising short term graft failure and enhancing the long term viability of the vein. This really is the state of the art in heart bypass surgery and we will offer this treatment to patients in the region for the first time and exclusively through the Heart Center at the American Hospital Dubai."

explains Prof. Klima.

According to the World Heart Federation, over 17.2m people die each year from cardiovascular diseases, making these the leading cause of death worldwide. Yet 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided by controlling the main risk factors: tobacco, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.