EIGHT patients with serious heart problems were operated upon at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan by a team of medical experts from the Tristate Cardiovascular Institute, Delaware, United States on Friday.
UCH’s Chief Medical Director, Professor Temitope Alonge, speaking on the heart operation which was the first of its kind in a government hospital, said, “For the first time, we now have the ability to provide cardiac catheterisation for patients who have problems with their heart. This is with the intention of trying to prevent heart attack.
He added, “Cardiac catheterisation will also help to monitor those who have hypertensive heart disorders to monitor the progress of their treatment.”
Professor Alonge who noted that operating the Cathlab was a challenge before now, stated that “cardiac catheterisation is a prelude to what is called open heart surgery.”
According to him, “most people with heart problems will probably not require an open heart surgery. In a case where an open heart surgery is necessary, we already have facilities in place that will be used to take over heart function while the heart is opened for correction.”
Professor Alonge, who remarked that open heart surgery was going to be more prevalent in children, declared that “majority would not require open heart surgery if they are detected early and a stent is put in the narrowed part of the blood vessels to maintain blood flow to the heart.”
The team leader of the Tri-state Cardiovascular Institute, Dr Kammar Adeleke, who was full of praises for the huge investment made on the state-of-the-art Cathlab, said “this is a test run to see if the machine is working. It is perfect and you cannot have anything better than this worldwide.”
Although, the team initially planned to consider six cases but later increased it to eight because of the large number of patients with heart problems. Dr Adeleke stated that “these were cases that would have required open heart surgery. But using this non-invasive procedure, they will be up in bed in two hours and can even go home that day.”
The expert, however, berated people travelling abroad for medical treatment, saying that “for Nigerians to be going abroad for medical procedures, I do not care what it is, it is just not right.
“It is about time that we reversed that. We have what it takes and under the leadership of people like Professor Alonge who know Nigerians in Diaspora, we can get things done. That is our goal.”
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