12-hour cardiac surgery performed on Dubai tourist

American, 56, was under the knife for 12 hours at Rashid Hospital after he was taken in complaining of acute chest pain.

DUBAI // An emergency cardiac surgery lasting more than 12 hours was performed on a tourist at Dubai Hospital.

The 56-year-old American citizen was discharged on Tuesday will return home after two weeks, according to a Dubai Health Authority statement.

On vacation in Dubai with his wife, he was rushed to Rashid Hospital complaining of acute chest pain.

Cardiologists diagnosed a type A aortic dissection requiring immediate surgical intervention and shifted him to Dubai Hospital.

“In aortic dissection the inner layer of the aorta (the large blood vessel branching off the heart) tears,” said Dr Obaid Al Jassim, DHA’s head of cardiothoracic surgery.

“Blood surges through the tear, causing the inner and middle layers of the aorta to separate. Emergency surgery is needed to stop the bleeding, replace torn blood vessels and ensure functioning of the heart.”

Of 12 aortic dissection surgeries performed by doctors over the past two years, this was the most complicated, he said.