Management of end-stage heart failure: a perspective on the Arab Gulf states.
The ever expanding epidemic of end-stage heart failure represents one of the greatest challenges of modern cardiovascular medicine. With medical treatments hampered by significant limitations, physicians caring for patients with advanced heart disease have turned to cardiac transplantation and durable mechanical circulatory assist devices as definitive therapies. These advanced therapeutic modalities are not widely available outside the United States and Europe, but nevertheless offer enormous potential for patients in the Arab Gulf suffering from end-stage heart failure. This review will discuss the management of end-stage heart failure in the Gulf States, with an emphasis on therapies best utilized within a framework of regional cooperation and coordination.
Al Habeeb
Waleed
W
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Stewart
Garrick C
GC
Mudge
Gilbert H
GH
D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D008877:Middle East; D012720:Severity of Illness Index