Dubai: A 39-year-old Syrian expatriate who was a heavy smoker had his life saved in the nick of time when he had a heart attack while he was in the emergency ward of a hospital where he went with mild chest pain.
On February 14, Esmail Nouri Al Jumaa, an insurance broker, suddenly developed breathlessness and pain in the chest so he decided to get it checked at the Canadian Hospital in Abu Hail, Dubai. “I was at work and when I experienced this discomfort. I thought I was suffering because of my heavy smoking habit and required some oxygen to relieve me, so I checked in. I couldn’t walk so I decided to drive the car, but while driving I realised that something is wrong and abnormal. When I reached the hospital, I was escorted directly to the emergency room by the staff,” recalled Al Jumaa.
The doctors examined him and gave him some medicines to relieve the pain. However, the pain got worse and his left arm went numb, finally he lost consciousness. Doctors performed a Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and took him to the catheter laboratory immediately realising that the patient was perhaps having a cardiac episode.
Dr Yasir Parviz, consultant interventional cardiologist at the hospital, conducted an ECG. “The reports showed that the patient was experiencing a massive clot in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery which is a major cardiac artery. The procedure called Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, which takes over 45 minutes usually, was performed within 15 minutes as the patient was already here on the hospital premises.”
Dr Parviz introduced a catheter and deflated balloon into the artery, inflated the balloon, busted the clot, restored the blood circulation and then placed a heart stent. “Time is of essence here as the patient’s heart muscle can die due to oxygen deprivation causing serious complications and even death. In this case, Al Jumaa probably developed the clot as he was complaining of chest pain, was wheeled into the cath lab which is barely two minutes away from the emergency and we were able to complete the procedure.”
Dr Parviz said that since Al Jumaa was a compliant patient, and immediately ceased all smoking and corrected his diet, he recovered completely within six weeks. “He is young and his heart muscle was not damaged. In fact, after six weeks, I was able to examine another damaged artery and give him medication. Now with good diet, no smoking and exercise, he has every chance of completely restoring his heart health.”
Dr Parviz cautioned residents not to ignore one’s heart. “Heart attack is the biggest killer and I advise people to never ignore any symptoms of heart attack. Al Jumaa was one of the luckier ones to experience an attack while he was in hospital. I advise patients to undergo regular screening and report to the immediate hospital close to their home in case they are even suspecting a heart attack.”