ANELISA KUBHEKA
SOUTH African researchers have been put at the forefront of international medical research by a Durban cardiac specialist who has made ground-breaking findings in his neurological injury research.
His findings, from his research titled “The effect of optimising cerebral tissue oxygen saturation on markers of neurological injury during coronary artery bypass graft surgery”, could see South Africans as well as the government saving money when it comes to brain scans for patients who have suffered brain injuries during cardiac surgery.
Doctor Yakeen Harilall, based at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, has found a way of increasing oxygen and decreasing protein to the brain which essentially prevents brain injury in the form of memory loss, strokes and dementia.
“This will have a phenomenal effect on patients because it prevents brain injury. Once the research has been published internationally, the rest of the world can follow in our footsteps,” he said.
The research was part of Harilall’s doctorate thesis and he will be among the 800 Durban University of Technology students graduating on Thursday.
Harilall, a father of two from Clare Estate, discovered through literature that most patients had a certain degree of brain damage during cardiovascular surgery.
He then looked at the amount of oxygen provided to the brain by machines that take over the function of the heart during surgery and then went on to research how to reduce brain injury.
The lab work and basic research took Harilall about three months before he embarked on a protocol that worked and increased the level of oxygen supplied to the brain where he used machines imported from America and Germany.
“Very often, South African doctors adapt from other countries, but this shows what we can do,” he said proudly.
He said his heart was in South Africa and he would stay here and continue to do more research because his findings had shown the high calibre of work that was being done at government hospitals and “it’s time to highlight what we can do, highlight the positive”.
He sacrificed spending time with his family to get his doctorate in clinical technology.
He said his eldest son, 8, had become accustomed to him being busy with his studies.
“He’s very proud of me because I have explained my work to him. The other day he told me that it was awkward to see me without the laptop,” he said.