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By Samar Yahya
GLOBAL experts gathered in Jeddah for two days to discuss how new imaging techniques could help patients suffering from various cardiac problems by improving diagnosis and treatment options.
The Saudi Heart Association (SHA) organized the two-day event to update information on a broad range of topics covering heart failure.
“This symposium is a joint initiative between the Saudi Heart Failure Working Group and the Cardiac Imaging Working Group. We are discussing the latest issues related to heart failure from diagnosis to imaging and outcomes in terms of advanced therapies and management of the condition, which has become quite common nowadays,” said Dr. Mouaz Al-Mallah, head of cardiac imaging in National Guard Hospital in Riyadh and president of the Cardiac Imaging Working Group for the Saudi Heart Association.
“Knowing that it is a global problem, we work very closely with the SHA and different working groups to increase awareness about heart failure so we are targeting the public, primary care physicians and cardiologists,” he added.
On the latest and advanced technologies used in the field, Dr. Dipan Shah, founder and medical director of the cardiovascular MRI Laboratory at the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center (HMDHVC) in Houston, Texas, said: “We work very closely with our heart failure colleagues since all these patients need advanced imaging techniques to help manage their patients. And a large part of the role of imaging, although starts with echocardiography, I think advances to newer techniques such as PET, cardiac MRI and more.”
Shah said he was very impressed by the level of technology available at health institutions in Saudi Arabia.
On treatment techniques, Dr. Shah said: “In the last 15 years there has been appropriate advances in both software and hardware that allow us to really get high quality images of the heart. So some of the areas we utilize MRI, especially in heart failure patients, is to get an accurate assessment of how well their heart is functioning. But I think the ability of MRI to image cardio viability or scar tissue and using the results to help bypass surgery and angioplasty needs to be emphasized. New imaging techniques can also help identify potential cause of heart failure in people without coronary blockages or obstructions and provide important information on prognosis.”
Dr. Arvind Bhimaraj, transplant expert at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, talked about lifestyle changes that can protect patients. “There is a lack of awareness about heart failure, both in the United States and internationally. Heart failure in respect to heart attacks is very common but the general public does not associate simple things like blood pressure control and diabetes control as a way to minimize risks,” he said, adding that a healthy lifestyle in general will protect people against heart attacks and subsequently from heart failure.
“More importantly, measuring and controlling of blood pressure and diabetes, so a good lifestyle apart from that engaging in their health and not just relying on medications and expecting that medicines are working are two important messages for individuals to take care of in relation to heart failure.
“The effort focused on heart failure will go a long way in educating the medical community and even the public and I think that’s half the battle when there are people pushing the effort for heart failure. We work closely with (SHA) and there is a multifold collaboration in patient-care, education and we are open for fellowships.”
Dr. Waleed Al-Habeeb, president of the Saudi Heart Failure (SHF) Group, and a cardiology consultant at King Saud University Hospitals, said: “Incidence of heart failure has been growing significantly worldwide as much as the growth of main risk factors like coronary artery disease, myocardial infarctions, diabetes — which is very high in Saudi Arabia, hypertension and ageing. It affects 21 to 26 million people worldwide or 1 to 2 percent of any population, and 6 million in the United States alone. We do expect that around 400,000 to 500,000 people suffer from heart problems in Saudi Arabia.”
He said SHF Group aims to raise awareness on heart failure in the region among the public as well as the healthcare community. “We aim to make people aware of the disease, the causes, early diagnosis, prevention and management. We have outreach programs in several remote areas and small hospitals to identify heart failure and make people more aware about it. We have our quarterly newsletter that covers new findings about heart failure and distributed all over the region. We also have collaborations with several societies like the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association in developing courses. We recently developed a nursing course to educate the nurses on how to deal with heart failure patients. We held several public awareness campaigns in the past and we hope to continue this mission,” said Al-Habeeb.
“During the two-day symposium, we discussed a lot about the burden of heart failure, the new modalities in investigating the disease, imaging, new medications as well as the assist devices or what is called artificial hearts besides organ donations and transplantations.
“There are new guidelines in heart failure in Europe and America, with some comparison and contrast between them. We are also currently working on our own national guidelines with health failure experts in Saudi Arabia. It will be published early next year.”
Heart failure affects 400,000 patients in Saudi Arabia with 46 percent of deaths in the Kingdom are believed to be caused by cardiovascular disease.
The symposium hosted expert cardiologists from within the Kingdom as well as from Houston Methodist Hospital.
Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services has solid partnerships with leading Saudi healthcare establishments such as King Faisal Specialist Hospital, King Fahd Military Medical City, Princess Noura University and many others.
