MOH – Gaza: Al-Shifa Medical Complex succeeds in treating 19% of the cases of simultaneous brain and heart strokes worldwide.
New research published in an American medical journal, and co-prepared by the medical staff in the Cardiac Catheterization Department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, revealed the success of the cardiac catheterization department team in the complex in treating 4 cases of simultaneous heart and brain strokes, out of 21 cases treated worldwide the same way.
The head of the cardiac catheterization department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Dr. Muhammad Habib, during an interview with him in Gaza City today, Wednesday, said that the research, which was published on the eighteenth of January 2023, in the American Journal of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine, indicates that the number of cases that were monitored had heart and brain strokes.
Only 94 cases were performed simultaneously worldwide, while cardiac and cerebral catheterization was performed for only 21 cases worldwide, including 4 cases from the Gaza Strip, which means 19% of what was accomplished worldwide.
Dr. Habib noted that the simultaneous occurrence of acute ischemic stroke and acute myocardial infarction is extremely rare and potentially fatal, that the global death rate in these cases during hospitalization is 33%, and the mortality rate within three months from the stroke is 49%.
However, Dr. Habib added that if a cardiac and brain catheterization were performed together, the mortality rate would decrease to 13% during the patient’s admission and to 23.5% within 90 days of the date of the stroke.
The study indicates that the most important risk factors that lead to the occurrence of this condition are high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and atrial fibrillation. Heart attacks in the anterior wall constitute the highest percentage with an incidence rate of 29%, and the most common artery in the brain exposed to blockage in such cases is the middle cerebral artery.
The study indicates that the most important causes responsible for the occurrence of these cases are sudden drops in blood pressure, thrombosis in the left ventricle, and atrial fibrillation.
This study is considered the first study in the world to prove the role of urgent cardiac and cerebral catheterization in reducing the mortality rate for cases of both heart and stroke.