A Heart Center of Excellence Advancing Cardiac Care in the Middle East
That landscape began to change with the establishment and gradual expansion of the Heart Center of Excellence at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, a tertiary academic medical center based in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Over time, the center evolved into a national and regional referral hub, increasingly retaining complex cases that once required cross border treatment.
Today, the Heart Center is a leading program in the Middle East for heart transplantation, serving patients from across the region while delivering a comprehensive continuum of cardiac care that includes adult and pediatric cardiology, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, and complex cardiac surgery, including minimally invasive approaches.
Beyond scope and volume, the center has distinguished itself through innovation aimed at improving patient experience and clinical outcomes. It performed the world’s first robotic heart transplant, introducing a less invasive approach designed to reduce surgical trauma, enhance recovery, and improve post operative comfort. The procedure reflects a broader philosophy in which advanced technology is deployed not for novelty, but to meaningfully improve how patients experience treatment.
Each year, the center admits more than 2,500 cardiac patients and performs thousands of surgeries, advanced interventions, and diagnostic procedures. Some of these services remain unavailable elsewhere in the Kingdom, positioning the center as a destination for patients with advanced heart failure, cardiomyopathies, and complex congenital heart disease.
Clinically, the center is structured to manage some of the highest risk cardiac cases in the region. Its teams routinely perform open heart surgery for patients with multiple chronic conditions, including those requiring dialysis, as well as newborns, children, and adults with congenital cardiac defects. Mechanical circulatory support devices are also integrated into transplant pathways and advanced resuscitation care, expanding treatment options for critically ill patients.
The center’s trajectory mirrors the evolution of cardiac medicine in Saudi Arabia. It performed the country’s first heart transplant in 1989, following earlier landmark congenital heart surgeries in the 1980s, and has continued to introduce advanced surgical, interventional, and diagnostic techniques into routine practice as part of a long term strategy to build sustainable local expertise.
Quality and governance remain central to this model. The Heart Center is accredited by the Joint Commission International and holds specialized recognitions from international and European cardiovascular organizations, reflecting adherence to globally recognized standards for patient safety, clinical governance, and outcomes measurement.
King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre has been ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa and fifteenth globally among the world’s top 250 academic medical centers for 2025. The hospital has also been recognized by Brand Finance as the most valuable healthcare brand in the region, and listed by Newsweek among the World’s Best Hospitals 2025, Best Smart Hospitals 2026, and Best Specialized Hospitals 2026, reflecting its sustained leadership in advanced, innovation driven care.
Riyadh
KFSHRC
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
