First combined heart-lung transplant in UAE completed

The first combined heart and double lung transplant in the UAE has been successfully completed in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Media Office announced on Tuesday.

The 8+ hour surgery was performed on a 56-year-old Emirati woman who suffered from pulmonary hypertension at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, with a team of 13 doctors and nurses.

Department Chair of Thoracic Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Dr. Usman Ahmad, said, “Combined heart and double lung transplant operations are uncommon even in large volume international transplant centres.”

“The time that donor organs are outside the body, awaiting transplant is called ischemic time and longer ischemic times can lead to worse outcomes after transplant. Under the guidance of Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and in collaboration with Hayat, we are able to keep the ischemic time short for heart and double-lung transplant” he added.

Abu Dhabi has had an increase in organ transplant procedures, exceeding 800 operations by the end of 2023, since the launch of the National Program for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (HYATT) in 2017.