Experts focus on heart defects

The Central Maternity and Childhood Administration at the Ministry of Health organised a training programme about early detection of heart congenital defects for newborn babies in cooperation with Abu Dhabi and Dubai Health Authorities on Thursday. The workshop was addressed by a group of experts from Washington DC, guests from the Abu Dhabi Health Authority. The workshop was also organised at Rashid Diabetes and Research Centre at Shaikh Khelifa Hospital in Ajman and was attended by 60 paediatric doctors in the Ministry of Health and health authorities in the UAE. Workshop Dr Hajar Al Hosani, director of Central Maternity and Childhood Administration, said: “The workshop aims for training doctors and medical staff in both public and private hospitals about the new screening pulsed oxidation technology and protocol of early detection of heart congenital defects”. Al Hosani revealed that early detection of heart congenital diseases is one of the common defects among newborn babies. About 50 per cent of these cases need rapid medical surgeries, especially in their first week of birth. She also stated that delay in discovering these abnormalities can put a baby’s life at risk and result in brain damage. She noted that early detection is the basic factor for saving the lives of these newborn babies. Furthermore, the central administration organised the seminar to brief the participants about the latest diagnostic technologies for measuring the proportion of blood oxygen by putting a sensor on the right hand of the newborn baby immediately after his/her birth for 24 hours. Blood oxygen The sensor then monitors the proportion of blood oxygen and determines the difference between the baby’s hands and foot readings. It also alerts the medical team when the blood oxygen proportion falls down or any occurrence of birth defects. “The new modern technology is considered a substitute for all current tests that cannot reveal nearly half of the cases. The old methods only measure the pulse or breathing rates of the baby and are not enough for monitoring the congenital abnormalities of the heart. “Up to 50 per cent of these babies might suffer from such abnormalities if they are not detected at the right time. “As a result most of the babies who don’t take sufficient treatment might face dangerous heart diseases if they do not get quick treatment,” Al Hosani elaborated. It is worth-mentioning to know that the UAE is currently working on implementing the programme all over the country. Abu Dhabi Health Authority hosted these overseas experts to apply the programme in both public and private sectors especially Al Corniche and Tawam Hospitals last year. From gulftoday