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Dubai: An Emirati octogenarian may live to see 100 years and his great-grandchildren grow up after undergoing a heart bypass surgery, which other doctors deemed too risky due to his age.
Sultan Sbeih Al Ka'abi, an 88-year-old former military officer from Ajman, underwent the procedure, performed on the beating heart, at American Hospital in Dubai in October last year after physicians elsewhere turned him down.
Speaking to Gulf News at the hospital, where he had just had his first scheduled stress test, said he had been treated medically for his heart problems for years. But the symptoms worsened last year.
"I couldn't walk. I had chest pains even at rest and I felt tired all the time," he said.
He went for an angiogram, which revealed he had multiple blocks in his heart vessels.
The only solution for anyone with his problem is heart bypass surgery, but surgeons met with a stumbling block with his case.
At 88 years, Al Ka'abi was considered extremely high-risk.
Physiological age
"We were scared he was going to die; he had no other options but surgery [but doctors were refusing to perform it]," said his son, Saleh.
His doctors referred Al Ka'abi to the geriatric department at American Hospital in Dubai, which consulted the hospital's heart centre.
After going over his case, doctors agreed to perform quadruple bypass heart surgery in October. They performed the surgery on the beating heart, which reduces the risk of blood clots and reduces recovery time.
Now three months later, doctors deemed Al Ka'abi fit and healthy - with the possibility of reaching his centennial.
Dr Fouad Azouri, chairman of the cardiothoracic surgery at the Heart Centre, told Gulf News this type of procedure usually adds 10 more years for patients, which means Al Ka'abi will likely live to see 98.
"We hope he will hit 100," he said. He added although Al Ka'abi's advanced age might have seemed too risky for the surgery, the doctors decided his joie de vivre was strong enough to pull him through.
"Physiological age and not chronological age is what matters. Some guys are 60 and look like they're in their 80s.
"If he's survived to 88, he's got something going for him," he said.
With barely a future three months ago, Al Ka'abi is now looking forward to seeing his great-grandchildren graduate and his grandchildren married.
"I want to see my grandchildren getting married and I want to see my great-grandchildren graduate," he said, adding he has lost count of them.
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