The Mayo Clinic's multidisciplinary approach focuses on obtaining the best results by involving multiple teams in the treatment process. Founded on patient-centricity, those undergoing treatment are involved in the decision-making process with the physician's support.
In our interview with Dr. Youssef Frederick Maalouf, Consultant, Division of Cardiovascular Ultrasound, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, he highlights the above while also expanding on the significant advances in therapeutics in the management of cardiovascular diseases. "Just to name a few structural interventions, we are now able to replace valves without opening up the chest by the use of catheters, in what we call transcatheter therapeutics. Therefore, the aortic valve can be replaced this way, and the mitral and tricuspid valves can be repaired, and even replaced this way. We also have witnessed major evolutions and advances in the management of failed bio-prosthetic valves.
In the past, the only management option available was to surgically replace that failed bioprosthetic valve. Now also we can replace that valve through transcatheter therapeutics without the need to necessarily go in and open up the chest and subject the patient to open heart surgery," he explains.
Watch the full interview below:
Dr. Maalouf has been at Mayo Clinic since 1992, starting at the Florida campus. He transitioned to Rochester in 1999 where he has been serving as Director of the Interventional Echocardiography Imaging Service, which is critical to guiding all structural heart disease interventions. He has four decades of international practice experience, including seven years in Saudi Arabia at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, where he built a cardiology practice; and five years in the UAE as the lead physician of a Mayo Clinic cardiovascular practice in Dubai. He has developed a large international referral network and has deep knowledge and understanding of the UAE and the region. Back to Management