(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Cardiac MRI, which happens to be the first of its kind in any private hospital in the sultanate, was launched in Badr al Samaa Hospital, Ruwi. Cardiac MRI gives high resolution images and videos of the beating heart, thus allowing detailed analysis of the heart tissue and providing faster and more accurate treatment.
'We are honoured to launch the most advanced Cardiac MRI technology available in the private healthcare sector in the region. At Badr al Samaa, we have always kept up with technological advancement that helps to meet one of our major goals of patient satisfaction. The new MRI installation has the ability to provide state of the art MRI investigations while having extremely patient friendly features. We will always be committed to bringing medical technological advances to the sultanate,' said Abdul Latheef, Dr V T Vinod and P A Mohammed, the Board of Directors, Badr al Samaa Group of Hospitals.
An average heart beats (without a break or maintenance) approximately 115,200 times per day, which translates as 3363.8mn times in a person who lives to be 80 years old. The most common medical condition of the heart is a result of decreased blood supply to the heart due to narrowing of blood vessels. This is called myocardial infarction or heart attack. Other conditions affecting the heart are infection (myocarditis), heart muscle abnormalities (cardiomyopathy), tumours and valve problems. Cardiac MRI also plays a large role in assessing cardiac function and pathology in patients with hypertension.
Another very important role of cardiac MRI is to assess the percentage of living tissue and scar tissue in the heart after a heart attack. Scar tissue is dead tissue and such areas will not regain function after angioplasty or bypass operation. Cardiac MRI can definitely identify living tissue from dead scar tissue and correctly predict the usefulness of undergoing angioplasty or bypass surgery in a given patient.
Cardiac angiography and CT are excellent in visualising blood vessels that supply the heart. But both these techniques cannot assess the heart tissue. Cardiac MRI (CMR) is a cutting-edge technology that helps the doctors to see the muscles of the heart, cardiac perfusion or blood supply, heart functioning and the heart valves. Patients with chronic hypertension have changes in the heart which are clearly demonstrated with cardiac MRI. Also, in patients who cannot undergo stress echo (obese and movement restricted patients), cardiac MRI is of irreplaceable value.
Peter McMurray who had undergone CMR was full praises for the technology. He said, 'I was diagnosed with a cardiac tumour but the radiology and cardiology team at Badr al Samaa categorically ruled out the tumour after performing the CMR. It was an amazing experience to see for myself the videos of my normal beating heart.'
Dr Benny Panakkal, senior consultant, Interventional Cardiologist at Badr al Samaa Hospital, Ruwi, validated cardiac MRI as an indispensable tool. He said, 'CMR is playing a very big role in cardiac treatment strategy across the world. We had multiple patients here in Badr al Samaa who presented with diagnostic dilemma in which CMR gave us clear answers.'
Dr Nevin Majeed, radiologist at Badr al Samaa Hospital, said, 'We are happy to have performed more than 15 cardiac MRI studies at our centre. Although initially, we faced a lot of challenges due to the complexity of performing CMR, the radiology-cardiology team with the strong support of Philips Healthcare has made it a resounding success.'
Apart from Cardiac MRI, the new MRI unit also has the capability to perform full body cancer screening, making it extremely beneficial, as MRI does not have radiation. Although whole body screening with DWIBS cannot replace PET scan, multiple studies have showed it to be a valid cost effective method in cancer screening. Cardiac MRI needs approximately 30-60 minutes to complete. Not all people can undergo CMR, especially with pacemakers or implanted defibrillators. Coronary artery disease (calcific plaque of blood vessel supplying the heart) cannot be assessed with CMR (angiography is the goal standard). 'This new facility will go a long way in providing quality healthcare to people of Oman,' added directors Mohammed, Dr Vinod and Latheef. For Cardiac MRI appointment, call 93321319.
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