Rana Afzal said the UHS has proved to be a premier national institute maintaining uniform standard of education and research in Pakistani medical and health institutions at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. UHS Registrar Dr Asad Zaheer said that the conference is to bring the best of cardiothoracic and vascular surgeons, pulmonologists, anesthetists and ambulance cardiac first responders for evidence-based discussions on the flow of Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) technology in Pakistan.
The Deputy Director of Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Unit, Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, UK, Professor Dr Bashir M. Matata said that lives of nearly 50 to 70-per cent of patients suffering from lung failure or heart failure can be saved by Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), lifesaving technology.
He described ECMO as the peak of applications in critical care medicine, utilizing the principle of cardio-pulmonary bypass. Human physiologist and consultant pediatric cardiologist from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, Dr John Okeniyi said that ECMO can be initiated in severe pneumonia in swine flu, malaria and poisoning cases etc in case of lung failure or heart failure which are reversible, when no other conventional measures are available to support the life sustaining processes. Training programmes must be conducted regularly in Pakistan to hone the skills and advance the knowledge of doctors, perfusionists and nurses, he said. The Cardiologist from Interteach International Clinic, Almaty, Kazakhstan, Dr Ahsan Ali gave a talk on "Non-Invasive Approach to the Heart Failure".
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017