The approval- in principle - of transforming King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital into an independent, private, non-profit institution owned by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, and it is name be (King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital and Research Centre.)

On the basis of belief in the importance of screening eye diseases and problems, the first step of the examination the diabetic retinopathy was launched on Thursday 8th of March. Dr Hassan Al Dhibi, Vitreoretinal & Uveitis Senior Academic Consultant at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, said: “diabetic retinopathy is one of the important complications of diabetes which is common in Saudi Arabia.” He clarified the danger of retinopathy is not fully appeared in the beginning, but when the patient gets 45-50 years old, the serious symptoms start showing up and affect the vision. Therefore, it is very important to do an early specialized examination to fight this disease.

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the causes of vision loss, the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics showed that there are more than 7 million Saudi persons have diabetes and 700 thousand of patients might expose to a loss of vision, stressing that this percentage will be increased about 30% in 2045. Therefore, KKESH launched a new project to examine diabetic retinopathy by telediagnosis using artificial intelligence, with cooperation of diabetes centres and primary care centres from all around the Kingdom to achieve complete protection and avoid its serious symptoms. With the presence of Dr Faisal Al Dahmashi, the Assistant Undersecretary for hospital services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Abdulaziz Al Rajhi, the CEO  of King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, and specialty physicians.

The inauguration ceremony has revealed the project will begin in the first quarter of this year and target to examine 10 thousand patients spread over eight months. Moreover, the main point of the comprehensive national programme is to cover all Saudi Arabia’s regions.

Sami Al Ghamdi, the medical coordinator for the project in Eye Specialist at Riyadh, stated that the idea of the project is a telediagnosis communication model with AI, and the fundus photography taken by special devices placed in diabetes centres and primary care centres, so the centre in King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital receive the images to categorise, read, and provide a complete report to reviewers.

He added “The project helps in the fight against blindness caused by diabetic retinopathy and raises community awareness of the risks of the diabetic retinopathy on the eye, and makes a model to contribute to building a national integrated programme more broadly in the future.”

Al Ghamdi continues: “King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital has created technical aspects for this national programme and offers devices that work on preparing and training cadres. In cooperation with MOH representative in public administration for specialized centres which will focus its effort to provide necessary places for the devices.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital has participated in ADORE conference, which was organized by Abu Dhabi governmental hospitals with the support of Ministry of Defence and in cooperation with King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The conference was held for two days at the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital has honored the best residents’ trainers for the year 2020/2021, as follows:

The best trainers for the year 2021 and 2022:

Dr. Ahmed Al Dayel

Dr. Ibrahim Al Obaida

The best fourth-year resident for the year 2021:

Dr. Abdullah Al Hussain

The best third-year resident for the year 2021:

Dr. Abdul Malik Al Yahya

The best second-year resident for the year 2021:

Dr. Thabia Al Qahtani

The best first-year resident for the year 2021:

Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Yahya

The best fourth-year resident for the year 2022:

Dr. Abdul Malik Al Yahya

The best third-year resident for the year 2022:

Dr. Nasser Al Subaie

The best second-year resident for the year 2022:

Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Yahya

The best first-year resident for the year 2022:

Dr. Jawaher Al Watban

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital participated in the Artificial Intelligence World Summit at King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh with a joint project with “SDAIA” represented by the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the Ministry of Health represented by the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), and Leen Company.

This is the first project at the national level through developing an imaging device for early diagnosis of complications of diabetes on the retina using artificial intelligence algorithms without human intervention.

Dr Abdulaziz Al Rajhi, KKESH CEO, explained this project comes as a part of contributing to AI technologies to provide creative solutions to increase the efficiency of providing medical care for patients by using the top advanced technologies in the field of eyes in KSA.

Dr. Al Rajhi pointed out that the project contains modern and high technology devices to keep up with the knowledge shift in artificial intelligence technology to apply them in patient service and provide early diagnosis of cases. The project contains a camera that takes a picture of the retina through artificial intelligence algorithms to determine if the patient has diabetes complications. In the next phase of the project, complications will be diagnosed and categorized, then each patient will be referred to the specialized physician.

He indicated that this service does not require to be in hospitals and healthcare centres, but it can be provided in commercial centres through allocating a room and placing the device then the patient can use it with no need for an appointment. The fundus of the eye will be photographed and the diagnosis will be provided in a few minutes, saving the patient time and money. Besides, it will reduce the need for healthcare cadres who are basically limited

Dr Adi Al Owaifeer, the consultant ophthalmologist and medical supervisor of the project, confirmed that the creative tool for detecting diabetic retinopathy has been fully developed locally by national competencies.

WHO has launched package of eye care interventions (PECI) containing medical evidence-based eye care interventions to help countries to build special strategies and set priorities for eye treatment and health. The PECI can be used to investigate the lack of services provided compared to the interventions indicated in the package. It is worth noting that this package is one of The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030 to make all people have access to health care, treatment, and rehabilitation in any place at any time at minimal costs.      

Three consultant ophthalmologists participated in the development of these interventions:

Dr. Sulaiman Al Sulaiman

• Participated in the development of medical and surgical retina package.

Dr. Ibrahim Al Obaida

• Participated in the development of medical and surgical glaucoma package.

Dr. Fatima Alshamlan

• Participated in the development of package of pediatric ophthalmology.
• Developed a measurement of eye care worker’s competency.

A medical team at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital successfully performed two surgeries to treat neurotrophic keratitis. The surgeries relied on transferring a nerve from the foot and connecting it to a healthy nerve in the eye orbit. By these two surgeries, the hospital has achieved both a new accomplishment for the Kingdom at the medical level and its uniqueness at the Middle East level.

These two rare surgeries come as a result of global partnership programs and international cooperation between the hospital and globally advanced centers in ophthalmology. They are also a result of transferring global experiences, drawing on expertise, training doctors in the hospital, and localizing the latest modern treatment methods to serve the patients in the Kingdom and receive treatment services and technologies comparable to the world’s largest hospitals specialized in ophthalmology.

The medical team was able to perform the surgeries for two Saudi patients with corneal sensory nerve loss. This led to recurring scratches and infections on the corneal surface, which negatively affected the vision. With the participation of a global specialist in oculoplastic surgery from the United States of America, a nerve from the foot was transferred and connected with a healthy sensory nerve in the eye orbit during the surgeries. After that, the corneal sensation will be gradually improved within 3 to 12 months. Consequently, the incidence of corneal infections and scratches will be reduced, and the condition progression and decrease in vision will be stopped.

This surgery is one of several rare surgeries performed by King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital. This reflects the enormous development of the hospital and its use of the most up-to-date treatment technologies in the world and the excellence of the medical and research teams. It is worth noting that King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is one of the best specialist hospitals in the world according to Newsweek’s list that was recently published. 

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital participated in the Artificial Intelligence World Summit at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, by a joint project with “SDAIA” which is represented by the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, and the Ministry of Health which is represented by the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) and Leen company. This is the first project at the national level; the development of an imaging device for early diagnosis of diabetes complications on the retina by only using artificial intelligence algorithms without human intervention. The CEO of the hospital, Dr. Abdulaziz AlRajhi, explained that this project comes within the framework of contributing to harnessing artificial intelligence technology to provide innovative solutions to raise the efficiency of providing healthcare to patients using the highest advanced technologies in the field of ophthalmology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. AlRajhi indicated that the project contains a modern, high-tech device that keeps pace with the knowledge shift in artificial intelligence technology to serve the patients and to provide early diagnosis.

The project contains a camera that takes a picture of the retina of the eye, and using artificial intelligence algorithms, it shows if the patient has complications of diabetes. In the next phase of the project, the severity and status of complications will be diagnosed and categorized, then each of case will be referred to the right specialized clinic. He pointed out that the service does not necessarily require to be available in hospitals and health centers, however, it can be provided in commercial centers by allocating a room in which the device is placed and the patient uses it without the need for an appointment. The fundus of the eye is photographed and the diagnosis is provided within minutes, this will save time for the patient, reduce the cost of diagnosis, and reduce the need for healthcare cadre who are basically limited.

The consultant ophthalmologist and medical supervisor of the project, Dr. Oday AlOwaifeer, confirmed that the innovative tool for detecting diabetic retinopathy has been fully developed locally by national competencies.

A medical team from King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital has succeeded in performing two surgeries for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis. This surgery depends on transferring a nerve from the leg and connecting it to a healthy sensory nerve in the eye. This is a new achievement for the Kingdom at the medical level and it shows its uniqueness at the level of the Middle East countries.

These two rare surgeries are as a result of global partnerships programs, international cooperation between the hospital and the world advanced medical centers in the field of ophthalmology, sharing global experiences, training physicians at the hospital, and localizing the latest modern treatment methods to serve the patients in the Kingdom in order to receive health services and treatment techniques comparable to the largest international hospitals specialized in ophthalmology.

The medical team has performed the surgery for two Saudi male patients suffering from corneal sensitivity nerve damage, which caused repeated scratches and infections in the cornea that affected the vision negatively. During the two surgeries, with the participation of an expert from the United States of America in the field of oculoplastic surgery, a nerve was transferred from the leg and connected to a healthy sensory nerve in the eye, to gradually regain the sensation of the cornea within 3 to 12 months. Therefore, corneal infections and scratches, worsening of patient condition and vision deterioration will be decreased or prevented.

This surgery is one of the rare surgeries performed at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, which reflects the great development the hospital is witnessing, the use of the latest treatment technologies in the world, the excellence of the medical and research team. It is worth mentioning that King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is one of the best specialized hospitals in the world, according to the recently issued Newsweek magazine list.