Saudi Gazette report

MINA — Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health stated that a medical team has rescued the head of the Iranian medical mission during the Hajj season, Mohammad Reza Gholamreza Refatiani, who suffered a heart attack while performing Hajj rituals.

According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), a medical staff at the Heart Center in King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah successfully managed to save the life of Refatiani.

“Refatiani, who is 60 years old, and did not suffer from chronic diseases, felt chest pains while working with his country's medical mission, and as a result he was transferred to Ajyad Hospital, and then to King Abdullah Medical City as a life-saving case.”

Doctors performed a first catheterization procedure that opened the posterior left coronary artery, which had been widened and stented.

After doctors noticed that Refatiani's pain persisted, he was subjected to a second catheterization operation to expand the left anterior coronary, remove the stenosis he suffers, and place a stent using the latest advanced technology represented by video technology for coronary arteries.

The consultant cardiologist at King Abdullah Medical City, Dr. Mohammed Al-Ateen, pointed to the effectiveness of the emergency system to serve the pilgrims, which was able to quickly transfer Refatiani to the hospital after the appearance of symptoms of a severe heart attack.

He said: “The case was dealt with at a record speed, which contributed to saving the life of the Iranian pilgrim.”

Dr. Al-Ateen stressed the health system’s keenness to abide by the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Crown Prince to provide the best medical services in accordance with the highest international standards for all citizens and visitors of the Kingdom, especially the pilgrims, whom the Kingdom is honored to receive and care for.

For his part, the Iranina official thanked the Saudi medical staff who supervised his treatment. He Praised the quality of medical services provided to pilgrims and the level of health care he received in the various stages of treatment, including catheterization and stent placement, where he left the hospital after his health condition improved.

The ministry through hospitals and health centers in Makkah, Arafat, Muzdalifah, Mina, Jamarat and Taif, provided services to more than 93,229 pilgrims, and among the most prominent services provided were 10 open-heart surgeries, 187 cardiac catheters, while 379 dialysis operations were performed, in addition to 10 laparoscopic operations, and more than 250 surgeries, while the Virtual Health Hospital provided its services to more than 2,200 pilgrims.