From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, is reputed for many feats. This time, the hospital has conducted a successful cardiac pacemaker implantation on an 87-year-old man, Alhaji Shehu Bashir Nababa.
The operation, which was conducted by a team of doctors from the cardiology, radiology and anesthesiology departments and specialised nurses in the hospital, lasted one and half hours.
The leader of the team, Dr. Isma’il Muhammad Inuwa, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, said the patient was stable and doing well.
He told Daily Sun that the patient was received at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital with third degree heart block (low heart rate less than 40 beats per minute), syncopal attacks and high blood pressure.
According to him, the patient was admitted in the hospital, following which his relatives were informed on the planned operation.
Explaining how the operation went, Inuwa said a pacemaker lead electrode wire was inserted into the right ventricle through a vein in the left upper chest and the electrode was connected to the pulse generator placed under the skin.
The function of the pacemaker is to increase the heart rate to, at least, 60 beats per minute as against less than 40 beats per minute.
Inuwa advised the general public to be more vigilant on the signs and symptoms of the problem, as some people, even among health professionals, wrongly interpret and treat it as epilepsy.
Commenting on his state of health 48 hours after the surgery, the patient, Nababa, expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah for saving him from the trouble of recurrent seizures.
He also thanked his children for financing the operation while expressing profound gratitude to the team of medical specialists, who handled the operation.
On his part, the eldest son of the patient, Mukhtar Shehu, told journalists that, in spite of the huge cost of the surgery, he was very happy with the outcome, because no amount of money was worth more than good health. He, therefore, thanked God for having the means to pay for the service of the hospital, even as he appreciated the hospital for doing a very good job.
Interestingly, a patient, Malam Dahiru Salisu, who had undergone the same operation in 2015, was at the hospital to give solidarity and hope to Nababa a few hours before the procedure gbegan to correct his heart defect. Afterwards, he told the reporter that he was happy that it all went well.