NPO HEART SAVING PROJECT

Activities of Catheter Treatment Support Group 3

The third catheter treatment support team departed from Narita International Airport at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, September 14, 2024, and headed for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Mongolian Miat Airlines flight OM502. There were six members in total, led by Director Koichi Kataoka (Hiroshima Municipal Hospital), Dr. Hiroaki Kise (Showa University Hospital), Dr. Keijiro Ibuki (Toyama University Hospital), Dr. Yuka Hayashida (Osaka Maternal and Child Medical Center), Dr. Mioka Jitsukawa (Kurashiki Central Hospital), and B. Altatntuya of the secretariat.They departed on the same day as the Mongolian regional medical examination team.We arrived at Chinghis Khan International Airport after 7pm that night, moved to the city, and checked in at Bayangol Hotel. The day ended with everyone having a quick meeting and then having dinner. The location of the activity is the National Center for  Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia.The schedule consisted of ultrasound examinations for patients waiting in the morning on the second day, catheter treatment for 2-3 patients in the afternoon under the guidance of a local doctor, rounds on the morning of the third day of arrival for patients who had been treated the previous day, then 6-7 catheter treatment patients, and a conference with all participants after completion. In the early morning of the third day, we will return to Japan from Chinghis Khan International Airport to Narita International Airport.

Academic conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the completion of the cath room

Prior to this trip, a conference entitled “The 6th congress of Mongolian pediatric cardiologists” was held at the National Center for  Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia from September 12th to 14th.
This event commemorated the 10th anniversary of the completion of the cardiac catheterization and angiography room (commonly known as the “cath room”) at the National Center for  Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia and approximately 200 pediatric and adult cardiology doctors from Ulaanbaatar and all over Mongolia participated.At the opening ceremony, Heart Saving Project Chairman Hide Tomita and Chairman Noriyuki Haneda sent a congratulatory message from Japan and proposed the future of cardiovascular medical care in Mongolia.Also, during the exhibition period, on the 13th (Friday), Dr. Hiroaki Kise from Showa University Hospital gave a presentation titled “Various techniques in percutaneous ASD closure” online from Japan.There were also presentations from the American team and the Korean team, who are medical volunteers at the National Center for  Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia.

September activities

In August, a local device vendor was unable to clear customs for some devices, which made it impossible to perform treatment, so this time we decided to bring devices that are not available in Mongolia directly from Japan. This time, 50 people underwent ultrasound examinations, and the number of catheters was 7, of which 6 were for treatment and 1 was discontinued. The breakdown of treatment categories is PDA1, PS1, and ASD4.
It took more than two hours for each student because the content was difficult and because we had to provide guidance. On the second and third days, we all held a conference for over two hours after the treatment was completed, so the sessions ended after midnight.
On the other hand, the doctors at the National Center for Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia have improved their transesophageal echocardiograms dramatically compared to last year, and many of the members who traveled from Japan felt encouraged by this.
During this visit, Director Koichi Kataoka and Dr. Bolormar, director of the National Center for Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia, had a talk for over two hours.We listened to the current situation and considered possible solutions, such as the cause and countermeasures for the inability to complete treatment plans in August due to lack of devices, the current status and future of the cardiovascular surgery team established at the National Center for Maternal and Child Health of Mongolia collaboration with the National Third Hospital of Mongolia, and changes to the rules for issuing licenses to foreign doctors.There is no easy way to solve the problem, but the first step is to find out where the problem lies.