Today, Cairo hosted the first Egyptian scientific conference for the treatment of “arrhythmia in children,” which dealt with the causes, diagnostic methods, and developments that have occurred in the treatment of such cases, under the supervision of the Pediatric Cardiac Electrophysiology Unit at Abu Al-Rish Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cairo. Cairo, and the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the university.
The conference included extensive discussions by many cardiology and pediatric experts in Egypt and abroad, where participants reviewed the latest global technologies in installing pacemakers, and the latest findings of science in dealing with heart disease. Cardiology in children, and the extent to which Egypt is keeping pace with this development, stressing that Egypt possesses the latest global technological technologies to treat such cases, and is already used in the pediatric cardiac electricity unit at Abu Al-Rish Japanese Hospital at Kasr Al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, headed by Professor Dr. Wael Lotfy.
At the beginning, Dr. Hossam Salah, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University and Chairman of the Board of Directors of University Hospitals, said that Kasr Al-Aini Faculty of Medicine had a leadership in this medical field, which is a new global challenge for which the university prepared with research, studies, and the use of the latest international technologies, indicating that Kasr Al-Aini Faculty of Medicine Al-Aini is no longer just a hospital, but rather a scientific citadel for research, analysis and innovation. He expressed his happiness at the success of Abu Al-Rish Hospital in such a precise specialty, as well as holding joint seminars with doctors abroad, in which we look forward to issuing recommendations that will have an executive impact within Egyptian hospitals.
Salah added: “Until now we do not have a clear number of children with electrolyteopathy patients, and a national campaign must be called with the participation of the Ministries of Higher Education and Health to conduct a complete census of the number of cases, as the health of the Egyptian child is one of our most important priorities.. and it is considered a hospital.” Abu Al-Rish is the sponsor and incubator of Egypt’s children’s health, and extends her service to deliver the scientific message to colleagues in other hospitals. Cairo University Hospitals are also interested in innovation, development, and communication with scientists all over the world.
Dr. Peter Aziz, Head of the Electrophysiological Medicine Department, delivered a speech. and Pediatric Cardiology at the Cleveland Medical Center in Ohio, United States of America, gave a lecture during which he discussed the latest scientific methods in the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of benign ventricular arrhythmia in children. He also gave another lecture on “Ventricular arrhythmia in tetralogy of Fallot,” stressing the importance of Accurate diagnosis and examination of the child’s condition the moment he arrives at the hospital by a doctor specializing in pediatrics, as well as reviewing the family medical history.”
Dr. Peter Aziz called for the necessity of relying on the guidelines of the American Society of Cardiology in dealing with patients who suffer from Of cardiac electrolyte disorder, and reviewing the appropriate drug classifications for each age group of children, stressing the importance of accurate diagnosis before dealing with the cases, taking into account the medical history, which determines the diagnosis before any dealing with the case, and of course the clinical electrophysiology examination of the heart will be the first choice before The doctor accurately determines the abnormal heart rhythm, determines its cause, and develops the appropriate treatment.
Dr. Al-Hussein Ahmed, a specialist in pediatric cardiology at Cairo University, stated that the biggest challenge facing the university in the past years was the success of regulating the heart’s rhythm in Children without painful consequences for the child, explaining that the process of regulating the heartbeat through two chambers of the heart It is an attractive alternative to single-chamber pacing, but it comes at a price as it is a surgical procedure. It also causes excessive battery drain and requires early and frequent replacement. In addition, batteries are more susceptible to damage and infection. He pointed out that the university today was able to implant the first device. Regulating the heartbeat of a child by stimulating the left bi-chamber plexus of a patient in 2023. Then in June 2024, the university succeeded in implanting the device in five patients, and then finally today the number has reached 13 patients, all of whom are children, and their ages range from 4 to 12 years, in an unprecedented Egyptian scientific breakthrough. Previously.
For his part, Dr. Wael Lotfy, Director of the Pediatric Cardiac Electrophysiology Unit at Abu Al-Rish Japanese Hospital, Kasr Al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, said that the aim of the conference is to increase awareness of the problems of children’s cardiac electrical imbalances, in addition to spreading the specialty, as until now it is considered an electrical department. The pediatric heart at Abu Al-Rish Hospital is the only one of its kind, even in many Arab and African countries, since its establishment in the late 1990s. Until now, Abu Al-Rish Hospital alone continues to provide this type of treatment to patients from all governorates of Egypt.
Lotfy added: “Supraventricular tachycardia is a small part of the diseases treated by the unit, and its incidence rate alone reaches 4 per thousand, which is a rate much higher than the rates of other diseases that we care about at birth, and cardiac electrical disorder is something that may lead to death.” If it is not treated, this disease must be taken care of and treated immediately. For your information, all European countries have performed 425 pacemaker installation operations for children over a period of 25 years, while Egypt, in the last 15 years, has exceeded 250 cases, a number that amazes doctors around the world when they hear it. “And stresses the inevitability of paying attention to spreading this specialty, and delving deeper into its studies and research.”
Lutfi continued, “The state has begun to pay great attention to congenital heart defects, and the presidential program also included early detection and treatment of newborns, and we must spread awareness.” The importance of this specialty and the necessity of early diagnosis and treatment, explaining: “Sometimes we intervene and perform operations on a fetus in its mother’s womb, if we discover that it has an electrical heart disorder. This is a major development for the health system in Egypt, but specialists in this file must be provided in all hospitals, in addition to providing… Defibrillator in sports venues and gathering places."
As for Dr. Shadi Nakhla, Professor of Cardiac Arrhythmia at the Cleveland Medical Center in America, he said that he and his colleague, Dr. Peter Aziz, received an invitation to come to Egypt and participate in the international conference, and present new research and studies to Cleveland International Clinics immediately decided to participate and exchange ideas and experiences with the Egyptian side, especially since the hospital affiliated with Cairo University has achieved remarkable progress and breakthrough in this field, praising the success of the university doctors in implanting pacemakers by stimulating the left plexus of 13 pediatric patients, which He sees a good breakthrough in this field.
He stressed that there has always been continuous communication between doctors specializing in pediatric electrophysiology in Cleveland and Egypt, a year ago when Dr. Wael Lotfy began establishing the department at Abu Al-Rish Hospital, and here we demand the necessity of providing specialists in this field. Pediatricians cooperated with specialists when discovering any similar cases to save the child’s life.
The American Dr. Peter Aziz, head of the Department of Pediatric Electrophysiology and Cardiology at the Cleveland Medical Center in Ohio, said: “I am happy to be present today with this elite of Doctors, and to attend the first edition of the Pediatric Electrocardiology Conference, and although I have visited Egypt many times, for the first time I am attending such an important scientific event… What Egypt has achieved in this field is the result of hard work, and careful follow-up of all developments in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric electrocardiology. However, attention must be paid to the importance of the Egyptian state’s support for research, studies, and requirements for cardiac pacemaker operations for children, in addition to the importance of providing an insurance system that covers these operations so that the disease can be properly confronted.
