Gaza medical centre performs ground-breaking surgery

A medical centre in Gaza has performed a surgical first in the besieged territory by implanting a Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Defibrillator device (CRTD) in a 70-year old patient. The Hayat Medical Centre for Heart Disease, under renowned cardiologist Dr. Mohammed Habib and his medical and nursing team, succeeded in planting the device in Mussa Abu Sultan, who was suffering from severe weakness in his heart muscles.

Dr. Habib said that the device was planted under the patient’s skin, a medical first for the Gaza Strip, in an operation which lasted for six hours.

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A CRTD device regularises the pumping action of the heart and protects patients with heart disease by providing an electric shock if the heart beat is irregular. The device has three electrodes, two to the right atrium and the right ventricle and the third lead in the left ventricle.

According to Dr. Habib, the operation was successful; the patient, he said, has felt no discomfort and his heart now appears to be working normally.