BEST PROVIDERS OF SPECIALIST CARE
PAEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC
INSTITUT JANTUNG NEGARA
Since its opening in 2012 , the National Heart Institute ’ s Paediatric and Congenital Heart Centre ( PCHC ) was tasked with the mission of treating Malaysian children with heart defects and adults with congenital heart disease .
Almost a decade later , through its global collaborations , investment in advanced equipment , and laser focus on advances in paediatric medicine , the centre stands out as a leader in its field , making it a worthy recipient of this year ’ s Global Health Asia-Pacific Paediatric Cardiology Service Provider of the Year Award .
“ Paediatric cardiology is a whole sub-specialised component of general cardiology , since we ’ re dealing with small infants and babies , there are not many hospitals and specialists that focuse on this particular area ,” said Dr Aizai Azan Abdul Rahim , chief executive of IJN .
“ This hospital has been blessed because we ’ ve had our Paediatric and Congenital Heart Centre already operational for nearly a decade . And year after year , we ’ ve been building on its capabilities and capacity ,” he added .
PCHC ’ s central focus is on congenital heart disease , which makes up about 95 percent of the centre ’ s workload . This includes both infants and children , as well as adults who have had heart problems since birth . The wide range of services available at IJN ensures that young patients who require long-term care can be first treated by paediatric specialists and then referred to cardiologists who are well versed in caring for adults with
Dr Hasri Samion
congenital problems .
Not only does IJN focus on babies , infants , and young children , it ’ s also been expanding its horizons to cover antenatal and neonatal care .
According to Dr Aizai , even when mothers are pregnant , some heart conditions can already be detected , so the hospital is trying to push the boundaries of its services in order to identify foetal heart problems while babies are still in the mother ’ s womb .
Earlier detection means that doctors can start treating a baby before or straight after it ’ s born . Otherwise , doctors would have to wait until after delivery before diagnosing the condition .
Through IJN ’ s wide-ranging expertise across cardiology and its associated disciplines , the Paediatric and Congenital Heart Centre has a readymade support system that allows it to call on specialists across the hospital . “ Paediatric treatment certainly requires a lot of collaboration with others . IJN has the full spectrum of sub-specialities within its paediatric centre and throughout the hospital ,” Dr Aizai said .
IJN has also heavily invested in medical research and clinical trials to develop better treatments and improve quality of care . In 2019 , the PCHC delivered a pioneering treatment by implanting infants with a bioabsorbable stent , a small tube typically placed in a blocked or narrowed blood vessel to improve blood flow to the heart , making IJN the first centre in the world to perform such a procedure .
A bioabsorbable stent , which is eventually absorbed by tissues , carries fewer risks than permanent implants commonly used in heart procedures to improve blood flow to the lungs .
The development of bioabsorbable stents has paved the way for other bioabsorbable devices that are poised to benefit children with complex congenital heart disease by reducing the number of surgeries they will have to undergo .
“ We were the first in the world to implant this stent in humans , as part of a clinical trial carried out last year . Our follow-up on the 10 patients involved in the trial has been promising , and we ’ ve already presented the results of this procedure in countries such as Germany , the United States , and the Philippines ,” said Dr Aizai . “ Moving forward , we ’ re planning to implant a modified version of the stent in more complex structural heart cases .”
80 DECEMBER 2020 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com