HYDERABAD: It has been close to nine years now that no open heart surgery has been performed at the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) for want of a cardiac surgeon.

The machinery and equipment for the purpose are said to be available but their installation, the required paraphernalia, intensive care unit (surgical) and support staff keep eluding the faculty and cardiology ward.

Information obtained by Dawn reveals that LUH’s city branch had witnessed first-ever open cardiac surgery on March 16, 2008 by a team of doctors from the Aga Khan University (AKU) Hospital. A cardiac surgeon, Dr Mudassir Aziz, was appointed by the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS). He looked after the ward for some time until it was closed and he finally he quit over “unfriendly attitude” of the then LUH administration.

Subsequently, Dr Raheel Hussain was appointed by LUMHS He restarted surgeries in March 2013. He retired around 2017.

Doctors say most advanced machine, equipment rusting but surgeons and support staff not being encouraged

A satellite centre of the erstwhile National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and now the Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (SIVD) was established in LUH’s cardiology building. It was inaugurated by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

NICVD experts then used to perform procedures other than cardiac surgeries.

Row between LUH, SICVD

Establishment of the SICVD had led to a row between its management and then LUH administration over use of the hospital’s cardiology building which the latter had resisted.

The entire building along with cardiac treatment facilities, including the ICU (surgical), had remained in the LUH administration’s use. Ultimately, cardiac surgeries were stopped.

Finally, the SICVD started its own facility in a newly constructed building in Qasimabad to undertake cardiac surgeries sometime around 2020.

The angioplasty and angiography facilities at LUH also came to a naught several months ago due to the maintenance of machinery issue.

After Hyderabad, open heart surgeries were performed in Tando Mohammad Khan’s SICVD free of cost.

“Since 2017, no cardiac surgery has been performed here (LUH),” the head of LUH cardiology department, Associate Prof Dr Mohammad Kashif Shaikh, said. He has been pursuing successive LUH administrations — as is reflected in the correspondences available with Dawn — for the resumption of the facilities, but in vain.

Doctors’ efforts

It is learnt that a cardiac surgeon, Dr Sharjeel Dahri, had joined LUMHS for LUH’s cardiology department, but he left for the United Kingdom after getting no positive response to his request for working environment.

Dr Kashif said that with all out support of LUMHS VC Prof Dr Ikram Din Ujjan, he had engaged another cardiac surgeon, Dr Siham Qureshi, in the light of an arrangement with a Karachi-based private cardiac hospital for ensuring regular surgeries at the LUH, but to no avail. The private hospital management had promised provision of the doctors’ teams regularly if the required facilities were made available at the LUH. But it did not happen.

“After staying here for a year, Dr Qureshi, too, resigned as the machinery’s installation was not in sight,” Dr Kashif disclosed.

He said that when the department was performing angioplasty and angiography, it was generating its own funds by charging a negligible amount of Rs4,000 for angiography and Rs15,000 for angioplasty to meet the salary expenses of daily wage staff.

“As these machineries remained dysfunctional and no surgeries were performed, the salary expenses started piling up and the administration did not pay the wages. Eventually, workers left the department,” he said.

In his November 2024 correspondence, addressed to the then LUH medical superintendent, Dr Kashif had mentioned that advanced machines, like ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and devices, besides heart-lung machines (cardiopulmonary bypass machines), cardiac monitors, sets of surgical instruments for open heart procedures etc were available at LUH store. “These machines could not be installed to date even after years-old procurement. The ECMO is a most advanced machine that is perhaps available only in a few hospitals in the country,” he said.

Dysfunctional machines

LUH’s cardiology department’s operating theaters and surgical ICU remained dysfunctional, if not nonexistent. Attention of successive MSs was sought towards this issue but it didn’t yield any result. A large number of patients needing surgeries had to move to Karachi to bear the heavy cost of procedures in private hospitals or wait for their turn at the SICVD Qasimabad, which also witnesses a large turnout of patients.

Angiography resumes

One angiography machine that had been lying out of order since Sept 2025 started working only two days back after its issue was fixed by technical staff engaged privately.

“Its repair cost is borne by LUH Hyderabad administration. These technicians from Peshawar were engaged when they arrived here in a private hospital,” he said.

Dr Kashif pointed out that there was a minor software issue in the machinery which has been fixed. Earlier, the previous LHU administration had approached a company for a service contract but it had demanded a huge sum of money for the repair.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026