According to Jeddah Health Affairs, the nuclear medicine unit of King Fahad Hospital is already expanded and prepared, marking an added value to both general and delicate medical specialties serving patients and outpatients, both inside and outside the hospital.
“This new unit will help - by Allah’s Leave - develop health care and upgrade it to services of specialized therapeutic centers; as this cutting-edge technology feature optimal precision in diagnosing several tumor and non-tumor diseases; thus, saving both time and effort to prescribe the right medication.”, confirms the Affairs. As well, this unit has a key role in treatment monitoring, ensuring therapeutic response and eradication of the disease, as well as treating some illnesses using radioisotope, including: Treatment of non-cancer hypothyroidism using radioactive iodine (RAI) with no need for surgical intervention in many cases.
It is worth noting that the unit provides several diagnostics, including kidney function tests for both donor and recipient, cardiac tests such as exercise stress test to detect complications of coronary arteries diseases, benign and cancerous orthopedic problems. The unit also provides thyroid and parathyroid checkups, including benign and malignant thyroid tumors. Likewise, the unit offer many digestive system examinations, such as reflux, indigestion, pulmonary issues, embolism, gallbladder infections, in addition to abdominal bleeding, mainly the digestive system, lymph nodes and Filariasis diagnosis for both upper and lower limbs.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has increased cardiac diagnosis of the newborn from 20% to 90% during 2017. In its 2017 achievements report, MoH stressed that this process has helped early detect congenital cardiac problems, treat them in initial phases, improve the health of cardiac children, reduce the burden and economic cost for both patients and the state. To do so, MoH has boosted the efficiency of the medical teams in Newborn Units through continuous training, policies and guidelines, as well as new indicators that help monitor performance.
Likewise, MoH has increased the number hearing diagnosis of the newborn from 17% to 89%. Thank Allah this has helped early detect hearing defects, treat them in their initial stages; thus, enabling the newborn to enjoy a normal life which is free from hearing impairments.