Experts at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, successfully carried out the operations recently where the chests of four patients were cut open and the surgeries performed on the muscles, valves and arteries of their hearts to rehabilitate them. The medical procedures, Arewa Voice gathered, paved the way for blood to flow properly to the hearts of the patients and reduce their odds of suffering a heart attack. The successful surgeries were the first of a kind in the country.
Visibly excited by the medical feat recorded by the home-grown doctors in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, described it as worthy of celebration. During his visit to the FMC Abuja, accompanied by the members and Chairman of the hospital governing board, after the successful open heart surgeries, Mamora said: “I am happy and excited regarding this feat and the outcome. Of course, even the machine, one of which, I am told, is the only one in the country at this point in time, makes us very proud of this hospital and the fantastic work the doctors and others are doing to improve health care delivery.”
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One of the patients who had the successful open heart surgery at the facility, Aisha Damisa, was said to have earlier been diagnosed with a condition where blood could not flow properly to her heart, and so required an operation in which, among other procedures, a healthy vein or artery would be used to make a new path around the blocked artery to restore proper flow.
Recounting her experiences before and after the operation, she described them as “bitter sweet”. “It was bitter because of the fact that I was not sure what the result will be; whether I will come out of it alive or not. And, sweet because here I am alive,” Aisha said.
The Chief Medical Director of FMC Abuja, Prof. Sa’ad Aliyu Ahmed, who coordinated the processes required for the surgeries to become successful, already has his eyes set on the next steps.
Prof Ahmed said: “It is not enough for us to just do open heart surgery missions, and then we close our theatres. We are looking at how we can domesticate this feat, and then do these surgeries routinely.”
Nonetheless, some of the challenges facing the medical facility include the need for expansion and further provision of state-of-the-art medical equipment for the hospital. However, the Federal Government has said these issues are already being addressed.
Some FCT residents, who were also thrilled by the breakthrough, said the addition of advanced open heart surgeries to the wide range of medical specialties offered at FMC Abuja will curb medical tourism.
“Open heart surgery is not an easy task, but when you have four successfully done at a go, then be sure that it has to involve an uncommon expertise,” a resident said.
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