Two patients are recuperating in the intensive care unit of the Reddington Hospital, Victoria Island, Lagos, following the first coronary angioplasty and stenting procedure performed in Nigeria on Monday.
The procedure, which was said to be successful, involves opening up the arteries (tiny pipes that transport blood in the heart), which have been blocked as a result of the high cholesterol in the blood, using what is called a stent.
The operation was carried out by a team led by a renowned cardiologist, Dr. Adeyemi Johnson, of First Cardiology Consultants, who returned to Nigeria after practising in the United States for over 25 years. This computerised procedure, according to Dr. Johnson, is more technical than open heart surgery or correcting a hole in the heart.
Finding help at home
One of the patients was a middle-aged woman (name witheld) with severe angina, a squeezing pain or a pressing feeling in the chest which is most often caused by blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
The other was 46-year-old medical practitioner, Deji Morenikeji, who recently suffered a heart attack. Dr. Morenikeji, on his hospital bed, told NEXT that he had planned to travel to India or the United Kingdom for treatment. He said the trip would have cost him up to N5 million, but with the availability of the service in the country, he has saved both on cost and his life.
"My wife and I were actually planning to travel to India or U.K," he said. "But when I saw the expertise and competency of the team, I decided to do it here."
Dr. Morenikeji was diagnosed with a narrowed coronary heart vessel earlier in the year.
"I noticed that I was always having chest pain," he said. "When it got unbearable, on May 27, 2009, precisely, I went for a checkup. After a stressful electro-cardiogram, I was told that I had a heart attack. I was treated, but after that, I was told I had a narrowed coronary heart vessel. I was then advised to do a coronary angiogram to know exactly the location. And then there was nowhere in Nigeria to do this."
Addressing myths
Dr. Johnson said that coronary heart disease, a major cause of heart attacks and sudden death, is more common than is often reported, although there are no official statistics available in Nigeria. He said that he meets with at least two patients suffering from this condition in a week.
According to the World Health Organisation, cardiovascular disease is taking epidemic proportions, especially in developing countries, and this is largely due to changing diets and lifestyles.
"Most of the time, we hear more about high blood pressure, but coronary heart disease is very common in Nigeria, and it is due to our lifestyle," agreed Dr. Johnson.
"We eat a lot of fatty foods, and we do not exercise. Because we take Okada (motorcycles) everywhere, we do not walk anymore, which is recommended to be good for the heart."
He mentioned smoking, being overweight, and having a family history of heart disease, as other predisposing factors. The cardiologist also explained that hypertension, which is often caused by diabetes and high blood pressure, can result in coronary heart diseases too, and warned that any chest pain should be taken seriously, especially the kind that is usually confused with heartburn.
Hope for heart disease sufferers
Nevertheless, Dr. Johnson believes that angioplasty has come to stay in Nigeria, because his team is now based here. The team is made up of a British-trained Nigerian nurse, a Lebanon-trained and India-trained nurses while the Reddington Hospital is providing the high-tech equipment being used. Dr. Johnson is, however, determined to overcome the challenges of poor infrastructures such as power failure.
He said: "It's a challenge because the equipment is highly sensitive to power fluctuations, but we will make it work."
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