The first combined heart and double lung transplant in the UAE has been successfully completed in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Media Office announced on Tuesday.
The 8+ hour surgery was performed on a 56-year-old Emirati woman who suffered from pulmonary hypertension at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, with a team of 13 doctors and nurses.
Department Chair of Thoracic Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Dr. Usman Ahmad, said, “Combined heart and double lung transplant operations are uncommon even in large volume international transplant centres.”
“The time that donor organs are outside the body, awaiting transplant is called ischemic time and longer ischemic times can lead to worse outcomes after transplant. Under the guidance of Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and in collaboration with Hayat, we are able to keep the ischemic time short for heart and double-lung transplant” he added.
Abu Dhabi has had an increase in organ transplant procedures, exceeding 800 operations by the end of 2023, since the launch of the National Program for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (HYATT) in 2017.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) published its first set of guidelines to standardise the diagnosis and treatment of obesity, with more than half of China's adults already overweight and obese, and the rate expected to keep rising.
The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) has launched a comprehensive field survey to determine food consumption rates and patterns across Abu Dhabi, to enhance food security and determine areas of potential investment.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) has launched a new project to chronicle the major contributions of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum across the spheres of politics, administration, society, and public life during his time as the Ruler of Dubai.
Operation Smile UAE, in partnership with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, will provide free cleft lip and palate surgeries to 17 surgical candidates and dental care to several dental candidates.