- Carlos Alberto da Fonseca
- Cardiologist Imaging and Heart Failure
- November 2023
The goal of the Dutch Medical Team, is to aid those in need and to exchange knowledge in order to improve the standard of health care in the local Egyptian community.
As an imager and heart failure specialist it is my role to do a pre-evaluation of the patient’s cardiac status and post-operative evaluation. This is primarily done with a transthoracic echocardiogram. As there was no sonographer present, I make the echo’s myself. This gives me an opportunity to connect with the patients. And although there is a language barrier, it never seems to be an issue, since kindness and mutual respect exceeds many boundaries.
Strikingly all patients are exceptionally young compared to what we are used to here in Europe. We encounter mainly (multi-vessel) ischemic heart disease and (rheumatic) valve disorders. After evaluation and discussion within our team of physicians and physician assistants, the choice of procedure is determined. During our stay we were able to conduct 10 open heart surgery procedures and nurse them throughout their intensive care stay.
The case that struck me most was a young female who had prior surgery just a few weeks before our arrival. She was in heart failure, not because the implanted valve prosthesis was too small, but because there was a massive leakage around the border of the valve, as we could see during the echocardiography. I can still see her questioning eyes in my mind as if to say “what is going to happen to me now?” We decided that repeat valve surgery was the only solution. We were able to reuse the valve which was implanted in the aortic position before, as there was no other available. We also performed a mitral valve replacement because of concomitant moderate mitral stenosis. She passed the operation uneventful and recovered very quickly. This success was a beautiful example of devotion and the power of teamwork.
This team effort makes it possible for these young people to regain their function as caretakers and so the provided aid will also extend into their community. One might say that the patients were grateful, but the same goes for the team. To be cordially received and treated as relatives is the most beautiful gift I could wish for and therefore I look forward to go back for our next mission.