In a landmark move, the world’s first fully robotic heart transplant has been successfully performed on a 16-year-old suffering from end-stage heart failure in Saudi Arabia, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre has announced.
The procedure, which took two and a half hours to complete, was practiced seven times over a three-day period in virtual reality.
Dr Feras Khaliel led the surgery; he is head of cardiac surgery and director of robotics at KFSHRC. Dr Khaliel and his team – which he selected based on “harmony and coordination” – prepared for the procedure for weeks.
CEO at KHSHRC, Dr Majid Al Fayyad, has described the news as a “transformative leap”.
He added: ”This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our visionary leadership, who have prioritised the development of the healthcare sector, paving the way for a transformative leap in healthcare services, unlocking new possibilities to elevate the quality of life for patients both locally and globally.’’
KFSHRC has been ranked 1st in the Middle East and Africa and 20th globally in the list of the world's top 250 academic medical centres for the second year running.
KFSHRC collaborates with medical institutions across the world to advance global understanding of minimally invasive organ transplants.
Deputy executive director of academic and training affairs at KFSHRC, Dr Ali Alshehri, recently wrote a piece for the National Health Executive digital magazine explaining how to navigate through post-pandemic challenges in medical education through interdisciplinary collaboration.
Smart technologies professor at Nottingham Trent University, Phillip Breedon, also recently explored the status of surgical robotics for the NHE magazine, as well as the challenges of moving towards autonomous surgical platforms.
Image credit: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre
