Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals to demo ground-breaking surgical heart simulation at Arab Health 2016

Dubai, UAE, 27 January 2016 - Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals (RB&HH), the UK’s largest specialist heart and lung centre, will be performing a pioneering heart surgery simulation for the first time in the Middle East at the Arab Health 2016 conference this week.

The innovative ExoVasc® Personalised External Aortic Root Support (PEARS) was developed to assist patients with Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue and therefore a person’s ability to grow and develop properly.

The revolutionary device allows blood to be distributed from the heart to the rest of the body via the large blood vessel, which is usually defected in those with the syndrome.

Hosted at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, RB&HH will showcase the surgical simulation across the first two days of the conference.  The first demo by Mr Ulrich Rosendahl, Cardiac Surgeon at RB&HH, took place at 11am on Monday 25 January and the second will take place at 11am Tuesday 26 January. RB&HH will also be hosting a presentation about its hospitals at 12pm on Wednesday 27 January at stand number Z1D30.

The world-leading procedure was first pioneered by Royal Brompton Surgeon, Professor John Pepper in 2004. To date, more than 60 patients have been successfully treated with the ExoVasc® Personalised External Aortic Root Support (PEARS) approach at Royal Brompton Hospital and patients are continuing to benefit from this procedure in the hands of seasoned Cardiac Surgeon, Mr Ulrich Rosendahl.

The implant takes around two hours of surgery. Which is significantly less time than the traditional aortic root replacement, which takes around four to seven hours.

“Globally, around one in 5,000 people are affected by Marfan syndrome highlighting the importance and impact of such innovative treatments by RB&HH,” explained Mr Ulrich Rosendahl, Cardiac Surgeon at RB&HH.

“At Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals it is our mission to continue to develop services through research and clinical practice that work towards improving the health of people across the world.

“By being able to offer the ExoVasc® Personalised External Aortic Root Support procedure to patients, we aim to vastly improve the life of those with the syndrome. Our demonstration at the conference will be the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East - the procedure provides an exciting and viable surgery option for those in the region with the disease.”

RB&HH, which comprises two specialist hospitals - Royal Brompton and Harefield -is renowned for its expertise, standards of care and research breakthroughs. It works closely with hospitals, specialist medical centres and other health providers across the Middle East to promote clinical excellence and exchange of international expertise. As one of the largest specialist heart and lung centres in Europe, RB&HH treat patients from across the world.

Care at RB&HH is provided in comfortable surroundings in private wings within the main hospital buildings, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The hospital’s dedicated concierge services and International Liaison Officers provide practical support to overseas patients and their families, paying particular attention to their cultural, religious and language needs.