Reddington Hospital has successfully performed its first open heart surgery on a 66-year-old Oluwatoyin Adebiyi with multiple cardiac problems.
Olatunde Lalude, the hospital’s group medical director, announced the feat conducted by a team of 19 Nigerian medical experts at a press conference held on the 18th of May 2020.
Lalude said the surgery involved a coronary artery bypass graft, repair of mitral valve, as well as intervention made in the patient’s kidneys and other related vital organs.
He said the patient’s heart rate was at 35 beats when he was brought to the hospital, and that there was a need for an urgent complex surgical operation.
In his words:
“The heart was opened to repair the mitral valve and the three blocked vessels to the heart were bypassed. The heart was then successfully restarted.
This interesting operation happened in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis and by a 100 per cent team of 19 Nigerian doctors, nurses and other experts who live and work in the country.
With our critical care unit fully equipped, we took him in, brainstormed with the team on how to go about his treatment. Interestingly, our Tristate Reddington Cardiac Programme has been planning on when to start these surgeries.
However, the gentleman’s case made it a lot faster for us. The surgery is the most complex open-heart surgery ever done in Nigeria. We didn’t start this programme with easy treatment; we started with the most complex one. We are proud of the outcome. No one can have a better outcome even in developed countries than what we did here.
This complex surgery demonstrates our ability to expand the range of what is possible in Nigeria particularly at this time when foreign access is highly limited.”
Speaking while undergoing recovery from the seven-hour surgery, Oluwatoyin Adebiyi, the patient, commended the hospital for its service and the expertise of its personnel stating:
“I thank God for giving me the opportunity to live again. I can’t remember how I got to Reddington Hospital, but when I became conscious, I saw an Indian doctor, and I was at peace, thinking he was the person who would lead my treatment process. After the surgery, I realised everyone who attended to me are Nigerians. They saved my life. I owe them and God this life I am in now.
Nigerians do not have any reason to go abroad for treatments which can successfully be administered here.”
Professor Kamar Adeleke, the hospital’s head of surgical team, expressed optimism at Nigeria’s prospects of better healthcare system.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the country needs to look inwards to solve many of its complex challenges.
According to Professor Kamar Adeleke, the heart surgery procedure costs $10,000 at Reddington Hospital.
