KARACHI: National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) has completed 500 successful pediatric electrophysiology procedures, marking the country’s first specialized program dedicated to treating children with abnormal heart rhythms.
The institute said the procedures, valued at nearly Rs1 billion, were provided free of charge, offering life-saving treatment to hundreds of children suffering from potentially fatal cardiac rhythm disorders.
Dr. Muhammad Mohsin, head of the Pediatric Electrophysiology Program, said abnormal heart rhythms in children are complex but treatable conditions that are often congenital or inherited and may affect multiple members of the same family.
The program primarily treats three categories of patients: children born with abnormally slow heart rates, patients with excessively fast heart rhythms, and children or adolescents at risk of sudden cardiac arrest due to inherited heart conditions.
According to Dr. Mohsin, children with slow heart rhythms receive pacemakers, while patients with rapid heart rhythms undergo electrophysiology (EP) studies and catheter ablation, a minimally invasive procedure that uses a catheter inserted through a blood vessel to identify and eliminate abnormal electrical pathways in the heart using advanced three-dimensional mapping technology.
Each procedure costs between Rs1 million and Rs1.5 million, but all treatments under the program are funded by the government and provided at no cost to patients.
Dr. Mohsin said awareness of pediatric heart rhythm disorders in Pakistan was limited before the program began in 2021, but demand has increased significantly. The clinic now examines 30 to 35 patients daily, while nearly 200 families remain under long-term follow-up care.
The program has also achieved a remarkable milestone by successfully performing the procedure on a two-day-old infant weighing just 1.5 kilograms. The child is now four years old and living a healthy life, demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment.
NICVD Executive Director Prof. Dr. Tahir Saghir described the completion of 500 procedures as a landmark achievement, noting that the pediatric electrophysiology service is currently the only specialized facility of its kind in Pakistan. He said children from across the country travel to Karachi for treatment and that the institute strives to admit and treat patients as quickly as possible.
Hospital officials credited the continued support of the Sindh government for enabling the institute to provide one of the country’s most expensive cardiac treatments free of charge. Families of patients said the program had transformed the lives of their children, many of whom had previously been unable to receive appropriate treatment elsewhere in Pakistan.
