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A new surgical technique for repair of the heart valve called 'The Dubai Stitch' has been invented by a Dubai based-doctor and has been adopted internationally.
The new 'surgical knot' based on the sliding concept of a tie-knot has been termed an invention and has revolutionised the way heart surgery is being performed internationally and triggered the less invasive way surgery is performed.
The technique has won Dr Faouzi Safadi, consultant and director of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (MICS) at the Dubai Health Authority's (DHA) Dubai Hospital international recognition. "The technique has become suitable in minimal invasive surgery," Dr Faouzi told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview.
"Earlier, doctors had to perform the classic surgery to open the chest to repair the mitral valve which needed an 'adjustment stitch' to stop leakage," explained the doctor.
"But with the invention of the Dubai stitch, the surgery can be performed minimally with a small incision made on the side of the chest, instead of opening the entire chest," he said.
Dr Faouzi started working on the Dubai Stitch in 2013 when he took the idea from a tie-knot.
"For 40 years, no one did this.the operation now is performed through two holes only," he said, adding that the technique solved two problems - one to repair the mitral valve minimally and secondly to give relief to patients from the classic surgery.
The stitch is done outside the chest and then slid into place and adjusted in the body all the while using the minimally invasive technique. The surgery takes between two to three hours.
Twenty cases have already been done in the UAE using the technique, 50 cases in Belgium and 30 cases in Italy. "Nearly 100 cases have been done worldwide after the International Society of Minimal Invasive Surgery adopted the technique," said the doctor who is originally from Lebanon, and has been in Dubai since 2012. "The technique is simple and easy and has helped reduced morbidity and mortality to a great extent," said Dr Faouzi.
Earlier this year, Dr Faouzi was also awarded Dubai Excellence Award for his innovation by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
He was also the winner of the 2018 Subramanian Innovation Award for his 'New Adjustable Dubai Artificial Chord for Mitral Repair: Innovative Method to Ensure Accurate Length' which demonstrated a new knot for closure.
The doctor was awarded $5,000 grant funding to be used toward taking his innovation and bringing it to reality for implantation. Dr Faouzi's innovation beat two finalists from Switzerland and US.
The doctor also travelled to Houston Methodist Heart Centre in US - which has pioneered heart surgery - along with the Humaid Al Quttami, director-general of DHA, to teach them the technique.
He has also travelled to Milan and Belgium to coordinate with surgeons who pioneered minimally invasive surgery. Dr Alaadin Yilmaz, consultant cardio thoracic surgeon at Jessa Ziekenhuis Hasselt, Belgium who developed minimal invasive surgical techniques, in a testimony, said the Dubai Stitch was a unique innovation.
Dr Faouzi will also be travelling to China in the end of August to teach the technique. Other countries lined up include India, US (Texas), Holland and Italy.
Dr Faouzi and his team are working to develop a programme for Dubai. "We are in the process of building a good team in UAE and have internally already implemented the MICS initiative in Dubai Hospital but we are still in the phase of putting things together and need a proper programme," he said.
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