Prince Sultan Cardiac Center Qassim won the first place award in the Professor Muhammad Al-Faqih Prize for Scientific Research. The said competition was designed to encourage a thorough scientific research on a more advanced approach in the field of heart disease and a committed local and international service. This triumph was unanimously witnessed by the honorable and distinguished people specialized in cardiology. This was a major breakthrough for PSCCQ considered to be the sole first place winner among the cardiac centers in the Kingdom.

The winner was virtually announced during the online conference of the 31^st Saudi Heart Association and Gulf Heart Association held on October 8-12, 2020 bearing the theme “Sustainability in Cardiac Care”.  Dr. Osama Abdul-Hadi Smettei, consultant cardiologist was highly elated for placing first and bringing pride and honor to PSCCQ. 

According to Dr. Osama, this competition is held annually during the Saudi Heart Association conference. The research that will qualify in the final competition is selected from among the dozens of research evaluated by the scientific committee of the conference. During the conference, ten papers competing in the final round are discussed and presented by the scientific committee and three best papers are chosen for first, second, and third place, respectively and were announced during the final ceremony of the conference. 

Furthermore, Dr. Smettei explained that this research was about the importance of analyzing and evaluating tomography without contrast and its role in choosing the appropriate protocol for examining cardiac arteries with CT scans with contrast medium injection. The study showed that working with this method and analyzing the results for imaging without shadow material led in most of the examinations to choose a low exposure imaging protocol, which in turn reduced the radiation exposure of photographed patients on one hand that gives better imaging results and more accurate examinations compared to not using this approach. So, this kind of study is more preferable as performed on 300 patients, and is therefore highly recommended to be added to the usual imaging methods, which according to the study will lead to better results and a decrease in radiation exposure to patients which is very much important in medical imaging. 

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Mesnid, PSCCQ’s Center Director quoted that winning this competition for five consecutive years is an indication of the center’s excellence and a reflection of the medical staff’s commitment to service who continuously strive to achieve and live up to the center’s vision aimed at achieving leadership in scientific research in cardiology. Dr. Al-Mesnid warmly congratulated Dr. Al-Smettei for this achievement and wished him for more success. 

This is indeed a victory for PSCCQ, serving as an inspiration for other centers to work better in their endeavors.