Foreign experts performs surgeries free of cost for poor patients

Rawalpindi
A renowned cardiac surgeon from UK, Dr. Hasnat Khan, along with his team performed a number of cardiac surgeries free of cost for poor patients here at Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology from May 3 to May 8.
Dr. Hasnat along with his team including a renowned expert in cardiac imaging from UK Dr. Walter has been on a visit to RIC from May 3 to May 9. All the procedures done by the team of expert cardiac surgeons from UK at the RIC were free of cost through the hospital fund for the poor patients.
Chief Executive of the Institute of Cardiology Dr. Azhar Mahmood Kayani paid special thanks to Dr. Hasnat Khan and his team for coming to RIC and rendering their helping hands to cater to the needs of poor patients of the institute and for imparting their skills to the young cardiac surgeons and trainees of the Institute.
Apart from surgical procedures, Dr. Hasnat and his team delivered a series of lectures for young cardiac surgeons serving at the RIC on diagnosis and treatment protocols for cardiac problems. Dr. Walter delivered a series of lectures on Transthoracic and Transesophageal echocardiography, which were attended by the young cardiologists and trainees of the institute.
Dr Hasnat imparted hands-on training to the cardiac surgeons of the institute during the procedures done from May 3 to May 8, said Additional Medical Superintendent at RIC Dr. Muhammad Suhail while talking to ‘The News’ on Friday.
Dr. Hasnat and his team performed a total of 12 complex cardiac surgeries including mitral valve repairs involving no mechanical prosthesis, tricuspid valve repair, Bentall procedure (aortic valve replacement with aortic root and ascending aorta repair), aortic valve replacement, ASD (Atrial Septal Defect) repair with mitral valve repair, combined aortic with mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement surgeries, said Dr. Suhail.
Mitral valve repair is a cardiac surgery procedure performed by cardiac surgeons to treat stenosis (narrowing) or regurgitation (leakage) of the mitral valve that is the inflow valve for the left side of the heart while Atrial Septal Defect is a hole in the wall that separates the top two chambers of the heart.
According to medical science, this defect, the ASD, allows oxygen-rich blood to leak into the oxygen-poor blood chambers in the heart. The ASD is a defect in the septum between the heart’s two upper chambers (atria). The septum is a wall that separates the heart’s left and right sides.
Talking to ‘The News’, Dr. Suhail said that in a very short period of time, Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology has become a centre of excellence with quality patient care being provided and latest and innovative procedures relating to cardiology being performed at the RIC. Qualified and prominent cardiologists from different parts of the world have been visiting this prestigious Institute and imparting their expertise and skills to the young cardiologists and trainees serving at the RIC, he added.