At Aster Hospital Mankhool, we have achieved a monumental milestone: successfully performing over 10,000 catheterisation laboratory procedures since the inception of our Cath Lab in 2018.
This figure represents the total number of Cath Lab procedures performed over the years, primarily in cardiology, as well as across other specialities, including vascular surgery, radiology, neurology, and nephrology.
More than just a number, it is a testament to the scale, capability, and advanced level of our Cath Lab services in Dubai, positioning Aster Hospital Mankhool as one of the most active and high-volume cardiac care centres in the city. Moreover, the hospital is recognised among Newsweek’s World’s Best Specialised Hospitals 2027, and the cardiology department ranked 2nd in the UAE and 253rd globally.
The Growing Need for Specialist Cardiac Care
Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading health challenges in the UAE. Increasingly, heart conditions are being diagnosed in adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s, often before symptoms become severe. As a result, timely access to specialist cardiac care and advanced diagnostic facilities has become essential, not only during a medical emergency but also for the early detection and treatment of heart disease.
Moreover, Many complex heart conditions can now be diagnosed and treated through minimally invasive procedures performed in a modern catheterisation laboratory (Cath Lab), helping patients receive effective treatment with shorter recovery times compared with many traditional surgical approaches.
However, treatment decisions at Aster Hospitals Mankhool are based on a thorough clinical assessment to determine whether an interventional procedure is clinically appropriate. This ensures advanced cardiac care is delivered safely, ethically, and in patients' best interests, while remaining accessible and affordable.
A Decade of Growing Trust: Our Cath Lab Journey
Since 2018, our Cath Lab has grown steadily in both volume and scope. It reflects the confidence patients across Dubai and the wider UAE place in our cardiac care team. What began as adding the cardiology speciality has evolved to encompass advanced diagnostics and complex interventions, supporting multiple specialities under one roof. This growth reflects sustained investment in technology, clinical expertise, and, above all, patient trust.
Crossing 10,000 procedures is not a single achievement, but the sum of thousands of individual patient outcomes, each one handled with the same standard of care, regardless of the complexity of the case.
Key Procedures Performed in the Cath Lab at Aster Hospital Mankhool
The cardiology and interventional cardiology teams performed most of the Cath Lab procedures. Vascular surgery, endovascular, radiology, neurology and nephrology teams performed the remainder. Each procedure below demands specialised expertise, advanced technology and multidisciplinary support.
Diagnostic and Physiological Assessment
- Coronary angiography (CAG) maps the location and severity of arterial blockages in patients with chest pain, angina pectoris, effort angina or a positive TMT.
- Fractional flow reserve (FFR) measures whether a specific narrowing restricts blood flow enough to require treatment.
- Optical coherence tomography (OCT) produces high-resolution intracoronary images that guide stent selection and placement.
Coronary Interventions
- Coronary angioplasty (PTCA) opens blocked arteries, usually with a stent, in unstable angina, NSTEMI and stable coronary disease.
- STEMI interventions: primary angioplasty restores blood flow urgently during a heart attack.
- Thrombectomy removes the clot obstructing a coronary artery.
- Orbital atherectomy treats heavily calcified lesions that a balloon cannot expand and has been performed at the hospital since 2019.
Structural Heart Interventions
- TAVI/TAVR replaces a severely narrowed aortic valve without open-heart surgery.
- Balloon mitral valvotomy (PTMC) relieves mitral valve narrowing by catheter.
- MitraClip repairs a leaking mitral valve through a catheter-based approach.
- Tricuspid valve repair treats tricuspid regurgitation without open surgery.
Rhythm Management
- Pacemaker implantation corrects abnormally slow heart rhythms.
- ICD implantation protects patients at risk of life-threatening arrhythmias, including some with cardiomyopathy.
Vascular and Neurovascular Procedures
- Carotid artery (ICA) stenting widens a narrowed internal carotid artery to reduce stroke risk.
- Other endovascular interventions performed jointly by the Vascular, Neurology and Radiology teams.
These procedures require specialised clinical expertise, advanced technology and a strong multidisciplinary infrastructure. Their volume across the Cath Lab reflects the depth of experience.
Meeting the Needs of a Diverse and Evolving Population
The consistent year-on-year increase in our Cath Lab volumes reflects a broader reality: cardiac cases are rising, particularly among expatriate populations in the UAE.
Notably, a significant 35% of our patients are between the ages of 41–50, and around 30% are aged 51–60. Alarmingly, 15–20% of our patients fall into the 31–40 age bracket. This trend underscores the genetic predisposition to early-onset cardiovascular disease, making accessible, world-class cardiac care more critical than ever in Dubai.
World-Class Standards, Ethical Care
At Aster Hospital Mankhool, we follow internationally accepted clinical protocols and standards of care comparable to those followed in leading hospitals across the globe. We believe in the ethical use of advanced medical technology, i.e., using interventions only when clinically indicated and always placing the patient's best interests first. This commitment to accessible and affordable high-quality cardiac care is central to how Aster Hospital Mankhool's Cath Lab has grown to serve a wider patient population over the years.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age group most commonly needs Cath Lab procedures in Dubai?
Most patients treated in the Cath Lab fall in their forties and fifties, the age range where heart disease has become more common locally. A smaller proportion present in their thirties; a further group arrives past sixty. Case numbers have risen every year, tracking the broader growth in cardiac cases across the country.
How has Aster Hospital Mankhool's Cath Lab grown since it opened in 2018?
Since opening in 2018, the Cath Lab at Aster Hospital Mankhool has expanded across multiple specialities, including cardiology, vascular surgery, radiology, neurology and nephrology, surpassing 10,000 procedures and reflecting sustained growth in patient volumes and clinical capability.