A four-member paediatric cardiac team from Qatar Charity has partnered the NCTC paediatric cardiac team to perform life-saving paediatric cardiac procedures for 28 children suffering from congenital heart diseases at the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC) of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).
The four day humanitarian mission marked the team’s fifth visit to Ghana, but their first-ever mission hosted directly at KBTH.
The interventions utilised advanced, minimally invasive cardiac catheterisation techniques at the Centre's newly commissioned bi-plane cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
The medical team comprised lead Paediatric Interventional Cardiologist, Dr. Iyad Al-Ammouri; Senior Paediatric Cardiac Anaesthesiologist, Dr. Hasan Ismail Mahmoud Amar; Catheterization Lab Technologist, Mr. Mohammad Faisal Hijazi Abu Rabie; Cathlab Technology Assistant, Mr. Maysarah (M.N) Nafi’ Mosleh; and Senior Cathlab Technician, Mr. Kulindwa W. Kasubi, from Tanzania.
The team worked alongside NCTC’s clinical team which was led by Paediatric Cardiologists, Prof. Nana-Akyaa Yao and Dr. Della Adzosii, and Specialist Cathlab Anaesthesiologist, Dr. Sika Edinam Lumor. The joint team successfully treated patients ranging from five-month-old infants to a 23-year-old medical student.
The interventions primarily involved repairing abnormal cardiac connections and defects, (hole-in-heart), as well as executing balloon dilations for constrained valves and blood vessels.
Most of these diseases, in their manifestation, have a negative impact on the children who suffer the condition. Typical manifestations are severe breathing difficulties, recurrent chest infections, poor feeding, failure to thrive, or heart failure if left unaddressed.
Dr. Al-Ammouri praised the smooth collaboration and patient selection process at the Centre, expressing optimism for future missions.
"We are hoping that we will continue to come every year and help the children of Ghana with these specially selected cases, and also support the team at Korle Bu with the cases they perform in between mission visits".
Prof. Yao stated that performing the specialised catheterisations at the newly upgraded lab represents a historic step forward for healthcare in Ghana. She commended Qatar Charity for providing all the specialised treatments at no cost to the beneficiary families.
The Director of the NCTC, Dr. Kow Entsua-Mensah, emphasised that the visit prioritised local capacity building to ensure sustainable, longterm care through hands-on training and knowledge exchange with local doctors, nurses, radiographers, and anesthetists.
"One of the main aims of doing this is capacity-building and enhancing our practice. It is very important for us to grow our practice, and having the team here has been helpful in opening new frontiers for us," he noted.
Moving forward, both institutions aim to build on the annual partnership to expand access to vital cardiovascular care while enabling local clinicians to independently manage complex pediatric procedures in between visits.
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