The Clinical Imaging and Paediatric Cardiology Departments at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) organised the first Qatar Cardiac Imaging Symposium to discuss the latest innovations and up-to-date technological advances in cardiac imaging for adults and children.
A number of leading international experts in the field of clinical imaging and staff from HMC’s Clinical Imaging Department comprising radiologists, cardiologists and physicians took part in the two-day event which promoted cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) as a vital contribution to modern healthcare.
International experts at the symposium included Dr Ben Ariff, consultant radiologist from Imperial College NHS Trust, London; Andrew Powell, MD associate in Cardiology and associate professor of paediatrics at Harvard Medical School, United States; Dr Yoo, cardiac radiologist and Cardiac Imaging Division lead and professor of the departments of Medical Imaging and Paediatrics at the University of Toronto, Canada; Dr Saeed Mirsadraee, consultant cardiothoracic radiologist, Royal Brompton Hospital, London; and Prof Raad H Mohiaddin, professor of Cardiovascular Imaging, Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London.
“Ongoing technological advancements in both data acquisition and data presentation have enabled CMR to be integrated into clinical practice with increasing understanding of the advantages and limitations of the technique. We organised this symposium to raise awareness of and stimulate an interest in the profession of cardiac imaging and related filed,” said Dr Maryam al-Kuwari, senior consultant, Cardiac Imaging and chief radiologist at HMC.
The symposium also highlighted the importance of education in cardiac imaging and its essential role in the management of patient treatment.
“The symposium served as a platform to educate our staff and to discuss various research findings, techniques, trends, updates and opportunities in cardiac imaging,” Dr al-Kuwari said, adding, “Non-invasive cardiac imaging technologies - computed tomography angiography and magnetic resonance imaging play a major role in the diagnosis and prognostic assessment of patients with suspected or known cardiac disease. Cardiac CT provides high-resolution images of the coronary arteries without invasive cardiac catheterisation, which allows accurate assessment of coronary disease severity and improves physicians’ ability to detect coronary disease at earlier stages, in addition to its role in the diagnosis of other cardiac diseases.”
Dr al-Kuwari noted that cardiac radiologists at HMC are dedicated to providing the highest quality images to about 20 patients daily using the available highly sophisticated imaging equipment like routine cardiac MRI, Adenosine stress cardiac MRI, cardiac CT that combines compassion with proven research advances.
Dr Maryam al-Kuwari flanked by other speakers at the symposium poses for a group photo.
