Riyadh KFSHRC Performs World's First Fully Robotic Heart Transplant

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Submitted by

Joel Dunning

Source

Source Name: Saudi Gazette

Source URL: https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/645468

Author(s)

Saudi Gazette

A cardiac team at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, has achieved a historic milestone by performing the world’s first fully robotic heart transplant. This groundbreaking surgery was performed by Dr. Feras Khaliel on a 16-year-old patient suffering from end-stage heart failure . The process began with detailed theoretical planning to ensure precision and minimize potential risks. Dr. Khaliel and his team practiced the procedure virtually seven times over three days before performing it on the patient to ensure the effectiveness of this innovative approach. Using robotic technology in this procedure allowed for minimally invasive surgery, reduced pain, and minimized the risk of complications. Overall, robotic surgery can significantly improve the patients' quality of life and accelerate their recovery.

Comments

Submitted by Ruhina Alam on Sat, 2024-09-21 05:55

How did they explant the recipient’s own heart ? I presume it was dilated and big? How long was the ischaemia time - was it comparably higher than if it was done via sternotomy? I think in heart Tx - the long term function of new heart without rejection is the most important. Also, investment and research should be geared towards how to increase organ numbers, better yet, how to change sick myocytes with genetic modification . The new frontier in Heart Tx shouldn’t be doing it via robot but to find an alternative.