THE Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) is expected to conduct coronary artery surgeries without operation for about 15 patients using Cathlab machine.

The surgery will occur in a special seven-day camp conducted by experts from JKCI in collaboration with their colleagues from the African Doctors Association in the United States.

Speaking to this paper yesterday, a Cardiologist at JKCI, Dr Kawajika Mwinyipembe, said there are some patients undergoing surgery in the camp that failed due to the lack of some equipment in the previous camps.

"In collaboration with experts from the African Doctors Association, we have been able to obtain modern medical equipment used to open up 99percent blocked heart blood vessels to help our patients but also to share experiences", said Dr Mwinyipembe.

Dr Mwinyipembe said that patients whose heart valves are blocked often undergo surgery to open the chest. Still, due to technology, patients nowadays undergo surgery through a small hole in the body.

"We hope to repair 99-percent blocked vessels in 10 patients without chest surgery, a treatment that will help the patient recover quickly and spend less time in the hospital unlike a patient who underwent major heart surgery", said Dr Mwinyipembe.

Joanna Ghobrial, a specialist in cardiac surgery from the African Doctors Association, said that experts from the African Doctors Association have been cooperating with JKCI experts to share experience and help patients who need heart treatment.

Dr Joanna said JKCI experts have continued to provide heart surgery services of various types, expertise that will help them in the future to do it themselves without the supervision of large organizations in the provision of heart surgery services. 

"We have been cooperating with JKCI for a long time and we see the results of our cooperation, in the future JKCI experts will no longer need our supervision to do this kind of surgery as they are already experts,” Dr Joanna expressed.