Doctors from Abu Dhabi performed a rare heart operation. Previously, only 20 patients had undergone such an operation worldwide.
In Abu Dhabi, a complex operation was performed to replace four heart valves with bioprostheses. During the operation, the heart of a 22-year-old man was stopped for 70 minutes.
Surgeons replaced all four valves of a patient suffering from acute infectious endocarditis caused by a tooth infection.
Dr. Rakesh Suri, head of Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, said the patient was literally in the balance of death.
"When I examined the patient before the operation, I realized that he would not survive without surgery. We needed to urgently send the patient to the operating table."
Dr. Suri explained that heart valve infections are extremely rare. Moreover, he emphasized that the patient was delivered in a very difficult situation.
"All four valves were infected, worn out, the patient's heart was not able to support the vital functions of the organs, since it practically did not pump blood."
Dr. Suri said that such an operation was carried out in the UAE for the first time.
"In world medical practice, an extremely small number of such operations have been recorded."
The doctor announced that infectious endocarditis was caused by bacteria entering the patient’s blood, then the infection got into the valves.
Despite the rarity of the disease, it could be caused by a simple dental abscess. The patient became ill in December last year after he had his tooth removed. After the operation at the dentist, the man's condition began to deteriorate sharply.
However, doctors in Dubai were initially diagnosed with pneumonia.
Meanwhile, the infection quickly spread throughout the patient's body, reaching all four valves, seriously damaging them.
In January, the patient was transferred to Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, where a consulium of surgeons performed surgery despite the extremely low chance of survival.
