Kantha Bopha starts use of MRI on young cardiac patients

The machine aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cardiac conditions in the country.

Siem Reap-based Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital announced that the MRI machine, acquired and installed last Summer for pediatric cardiac patients, is now being put to use, 1 September.

The machine aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cardiac conditions—the cause of about 20% of deaths in the hospital's intensive care unit, Khmer Times reported.

This purchase of the GE’s 1.5 Tesla MRI machine is a level-up from its former process of using cardiac catheterization to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions, like septal defects or "hole in the heart," coarctation of the aorta, and underdeveloped hearts.

Children's Hospital Zurich–Eleonore Foundation professor of pediatric radiology and chief radiologist, Dr. Christian Kellenberger, explained that Kantha Bopha wanted state-of-the-art imaging that allowed Cambodian children to receive the same quality of diagnosis as children in Switzerland.

The clinicians praised the image quality from one of GE's 1.5 Tesla MRI machines. "It's a beautiful scanner, with all kinds of technical possibilities, giving comparable image quality as we get here in Europe," said Kellenberger.

Kantha Bopha doctors have been using MRI to diagnose tuberculosis and central nervous system diseases such as meningoencephalitis.

Founded in 1992 by Swiss pediatrician, Beat Richner, the Kantha Bopha Foundation set up its hospital for Cambodian children who needed medical intervention. Today, it treats around 85% of the country's sick children in its five hospitals for free. The initiative has helped the Cambodian child mortality rate decrease to 78% over the past 25 years.