Department Achievements:

The Department of Cardiology, King Fahad Cardiac Center, is a pioneer in cardiovascular surgeries. We started using this technique in 1996 before any other center in the Kingdom. After the success of our results, thank God, King Fahad Cardiac Center received a license to train surgeons on this technique.

The Department of Cardiology, King Fahad Cardiac Center, has succeeded in introducing this type of surgical intervention by performing these surgeries at other centers to train surgeons in their hospitals. King Fahad Cardiac Center is considered one of the most important international references in this technique.

This process is different from normal cardiac surgeries because it is done without the use of a heart-lung machine. For example, new cardiac connections to the heart arteries are performed during the natural heartbeat without stopping it, as in other cardiac surgery.

What is important is that the beating heart technique is not an alternative to the conventional technology which depends on the use of the heart-lung machine, in which the heart is completely stopped for a certain period of time, but it is one of the most important alternative techniques in which the use of a heart machine is a high risk, the surgeon then uses this alternative technique.

• Cardiac Surgery Unit’s distinctive scientific publications:

King Fahad Cardiac Center at King Saud University determines the future care and follow-up of patients after cardiac surgery

• After the remarkable success achieved by the Echocardiography in the evaluation of accident patients and emergency cases, the thought of using Echocardiography began for intensive care patients. Extensive studies have confirmed the accuracy of these devices and its reliability. It became the new adopted method in most well-known cardiac centers in the world. We will explain the used methods to follow up intensive care patients:

The first method: is the interventional method, this involves the insertion of a catheter into some veins and arteries so that we can follow the case accurately. This method requires daily x-rays for the patient most of the time.

The second method: is using Echocardiography (non- interventional), this involves taking live images of the chest or heart as required to give instant evaluation. If the patient breathes normally, there is no need to take the x-rays, and can rely entirely on the Echocardiography in the assessment of chest and lungs. This method gives the patient more freedom to move in addition to being safe.

Comparing the two methods, the first method is not free of certain risks sometimes and the possibility of side effects may require a surgical intervention, in addition to the risks that result from exposure to x-rays of both the patient and the treating team in intensive care. The advantage of using Echocardiography is that the patient can be re-examined many times without fear of any harming the patient or the treating team.

• The Cardiac Surgery Unit published a scientific paper several years ago describing for the first time how to recognize the diastolic heart failure after cardiac surgery and diagnosis. This paper shed light on the Department of Cardiology, King Fahad Cardiac Center, and opened new horizons, including cooperation with University of Melbourne, Australia, which is interested in studying the function of diastolic heart. We have published in cooperation with the University of Melbourne several papers on the treatment of diastolic heart failure and methods of prevention after cardiac surgery. They were published in a well-known surgery journal, quoted in well-known specialized books, and translated into several languages Such as German, Chinese, and Russian. Parts of two books were written, one of which was published in a conference in Italy and it was the same topic published in the European Union. The team of the Cardiac Surgery Unit at King Saud University was the first author of all papers.

In cooperation with Echocardiography Unit team in evaluating of cardiac surgery patients, the first collaborative paper with the University of Melbourne was published. It showed that Cardiac Surgery Unit at King Saud University was the first author as number of patients from the Department of Cardiology who participated in this study exceeded the number of patients at the University of Melbourne. It is found that the follow-up with non-interventional Echocardiography is more accurate and safe than interventional type. It is the world's first research paper in cardiac surgery and was presented in eight international conferences in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and America before being published.

The second research paper that followed in importance, dealt with the subject of the quality of images in Echocardiography and compare the cardiac images taken with the Echocardiography window. This paper used 68 measurements to assess the quality of the image. This type of research paper is a rare publication. It enriches the scientific research methods regarding Echocardiography. The paper is characterized by the large number of patients registered. It identifies the best cardiac echocardiographic windows to obtain the best possible image after open heart surgery which lead to new perspectives in this field.