27 children undergo hole-in-heart procedures at UGMC

Twenty-seven children with hole-in-heart conditions have been successfully operated on at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) through a minimally invasive procedure called cardiac catheterization.

The procedures were done by doctors in collaboration with the Qatar Charity.

Cardiac catheterization is a procedure in which a thin, flexible tube called a catheter is guided through a blood vessel to the heart to treat certain heart conditions such as clogged arteries or irregular heartbeats.

The Country Director for the Qatar Charity, Hasan A. Owda, said in an interview with Citi News that three more children will be undergoing procedures soon.

“So far we are done with 27, and tomorrow we are completing 30 cases of kids. This is a pilot project and in the future we can do something more and more. Together with leadership, agencies, and stakeholders, we will see how we can move forward by targeting more children and even more categories,” the Country Director for the Qatar Charity said.

The coordinator for the project, Consultant Pediatric and Congenital Cardiologist, Professor Nana Akyaa Yao, said the collaboration was a great opportunity to help children with hole-in-heart conditions.

“We actually did seek support, the Qatar Charity came to me, and they wanted to support children with heart problems and to do that the minimally invasive method which is cardiac catheterization. And so it was a great opportunity for them to be able to support these children who have cardiac problems in a minimally surgical manner,” the Consultant Paediatric and Congenital Cardiologist stated.