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Cutting-edge heart atrial fibrillation treatment now in Dubai

Emirates Hospital Jumeirah Cardiology Department becomes first private sector hospital in UAE to use PFA Technology

On September the 28th 2024, the eve of World Heart Day, Emirates Hospital Jumeirah added another significant milestone to Emirates Hospitals Group’s 20+ year healthcare legacy by becoming the first private sector hospital in the UAE to use what’s called ‘Pulse Field Ablation’ technology for Atrial Fibrillation treatment in Dubai.

Atrial fibrillation or ‘AFib’ is a heart condition where the upper chambers of the heart (atria) beat irregularly and rapidly. This irregular rhythm can disrupt the heart's normal pumping function. Although Afib is not generally life-threatening, it can lead to serious complications such as stroke and heart failure due to weakening of the heart muscle over time.

Pulse Field Ablation (PFA) Technology: Quicker, Safer Procedures with Less Complications

Dr Khaled Sabeh, is a US board-certified consultant cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist who leads the Electrophysiology Unit at Emirates Hospital Jumeirah, he explains more about this new technology.

“As an Electrophysiologist I have specialised training in diagnosing and treating heart rhythm disorders such as arrythmia. Patients often come to me when they have symptoms such as fatigue, palpitations, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, or what we call syncope (fainting). There are many types of heart rhythm disorder, and in the case of this patient we are talking about Atrial fibrillation. There are different options for us to treat Afib depending on the duration of the events, the severity of the symptoms, and the comorbidities of the patients. The most common methods being medications, and a procedure called ablation. Cardiac ablation is a medical procedure that normally uses heat energy or cold energy to destroy abnormal heart tissue that causes irregular heart rhythms.

Now with this particular patient, we actually used a newer third type of energy, called pulse field ablation. Pulsed field ablation is a non-thermal method of destroying abnormal heart tissue using short, high-voltage electrical pulses”.

Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms & Treatment

“The patient originally came to me suffering recurrent issues of atrial fibrillation. His symptoms included palpitations, fatigue, dizziness and this was significantly impacting their quality of life. The best course of treatment for this patient would be the restoration of normal rhythm and preventing recurrence, which his best achieved usually using an ablation via cryoablation or thermal techniques. However, although the complications of these techniques are low, and they are good options, PFA – Pulse Field Ablation is the safer technique to use as the energy we use only targets the specific heart tissue we want, and spares other surrounding tissues. It’s also an extremely fast technique compared to the other ablation procedures and therefore means less time in the hospital for the patient”.

Advantages of Pulse Field Ablation Treatment for Patients in Dubai

• Precision & Selectivity: PFA can target specific heart tissue without damaging surrounding healthy tissues.

• Speed: PFA procedures can often be completed more quickly than traditional ablation techniques, meaning less time in the cath lab for patients and quicker recovery.

• Recued risk of complications: Studies indicate that the targeted nature of PFA may be associated with a lower risk of complications compared to traditional ablation.