At the Prizren General Hospital, patients from all over Kosovo have the opportunity to undergo coronary angiography and stent placement. However, some citizens are not informed about this possibility and turn to the University Clinical Center of Kosovo (UCCK) in Prishtina for these procedures.

Due to the lack of invasive cardiologists at the General Hospital "Prim. Dr. Daut Mustafa" in Prizren, every day a cardiologist, together with someone from the medical team, travels from UCCK, Prishtina to perform the procedures at this hospital.

Among the UCCK cardiologists who provide services in Prizren is Artan Ahmetaj, who indicates that they treat up to six patients with invasive procedures every day.

Ahmetaj emphasizes that on weekends, 24-hour on-call shifts are often organized to allow patients to receive immediate treatment without needing to travel to Prishtina.

"Since the project was led by LuxDev, experts from Slovenia initially oversaw how it would be implemented. We started with only two days per week and 24-hour on-call duty. Around five to six elective cases were scheduled, and all emergency cases within 24 hours were handled. For the past six months, doctors have been coming daily. Usually, one or two experienced doctors from UCCK, specialized in the field of Invasive Cardiology and treat five to six cases daily, including acute cases. Also, weekend on-call shifts are often organized so that patients needing emergency invasive cardiology services do not need to go to UCCK", said Ahmetaj.

In addition to coronary angiography, cardiologist Ahmetaj explains what other procedures are performed in Prizren.

"All procedures performed in the catheterization room in Prishtina are performed here…These are coronary angiography, stent placement, balloon angioplasty, these are the procedures that are performed," says the cardiologist.

Ahmetaj says patients should not hesitate to come to Prizren for interventions, as the procedures are done by the same UCCK staff and under better conditions than in Prishtina.

He emphasizes that the goal is to reduce the waiting list, which is managed by UCCK and through which patients are distributed to both centers.

"Patients often hesitate to go to Prizren. The point is, the same procedure is performed by the same staff, and the waiting time is shorter than in Prishtina. The aim is to reduce the waiting list… The waiting list, which is managed by the UCCK, the same list is managed from there and patients are distributed both in Prishtina and in Prizren… There is no need to hesitate. On the contrary, the working environment is easier here, for us as doctors and for patients, nurses and other support staff. Here is a modern room and the conditions are much better than in Prishtina", says Ahmetaj.

Ahmetaj emphasizes the reason why the catheterization room in Prizren has been supported by UCCK for more than a year.

"The reason the catheterization lab in Prizren has been supported for a year by UCCK is that Prizren still doesn’t have a trained team capable of independently handling all the cases performed here," says Ahmetaj.

According to Ahmetaj, since June 2024, when invasive cardiology services began in Prizren, initially two doctors, a nurse, and a room technician came twice a week, while since January the services have been provided every day.

However, there are citizens who are not informed about these services.

Shadije Krasniqi says she didn’t know stent placement was available at the Prizren General Hospital.

"Did you know that heart stents are now also placed in Prizren Hospital? No. You didn't know? No. Did you think that they are only placed in Prishtina? No, they should be placed in Prizren too", says Krasniqi.

Hamdi Elshani from Suhareka says that he has had stents placed at UCCK, but he was not informed that such a service is also offered at the Prizren Hospital.

"Did you know that heart stents are now also placed in Prizren Hospital? No, we didn't know. Did you think that they are only done in Prishtina? I actually had mine done in Prishtina… Now you can have them placed in Prizren as well. Thank you for the information", says Elshani.

Meanwhile, Shefqet Maliqi from Malisheva says that a few months ago he found out that stent placement can also be done at the Prizren Hospital.

"Do you know that heart stents are now also placed at the Prizren Hospital? Yes, we’ve heard about it. When did you find out? Aboit two months ago, a fellow villager of ours had a stent placed for his wife… It went very well", says Krasniqi.

These services are provided as part of the LuxDev project, funded by the Government of Luxembourg and implemented by the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.

This solution has enabled the provision of advanced cardiology services closer to the citizens of the Prizren region and beyond./Z. Zeneli/