RESUMO
Until the end of the eighties El Shaab Hospital was the only hospital in the country capable of receiving cardiac; pulmonary medicine and neurosurgery. It consisted of nine wards accommodating the above specialties. A well-equipped operating theatre and recovery room were stationed at the south east corner. By 1981 a cardiac catheter laboratory was installed. Patients who were referred from all provinces for cardiac care were seen at the referred outpatient where they would either be admitted to hospital for treatment or followed up at the outpatient clinics. There were basic equipment like ECG; chest X-ray facility and small laboratory for basic haematology and biochemistry investigations. 2D and M-mode echo equipment was supplied. Dr. Khalid Gharieb was the first to perform studies on that machine. By the mid-eighties it became clear to all cardiologist and physicians in the country that the toll from coronary artery disease was increasing. Very ill patients with acute myocardial infarction were coming to hospital looking for help. Some of them were admitted at the recovery room of the operating theater where monitoring and oxygen supply were available