Nidal Abi rafeh M.D.

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Get to know Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Nidal Abi Rafeh, who serves patients in Hammond, Louisiana.

Dr. Rafeh is a highly-trained interventional cardiologist at North Oaks Cardiology Clinic in Hammond, Louisiana. He is world-renowned for his expertise in the performance of complex and high-risk Chronic Total Occlusion Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (CTO PCI). This minimally invasive technique is used to treat patients with complete blockages of the coronary arteries, which is caused by plaque buildup that compromises blood flow to the heart.

“Many patients are unable to undergo an invasive heart bypass procedure. The minimally invasive technique that I specialize in gives high-risk patients another option for the removal of their blockages without the risk and down time of an open heart procedure” explained the doctor.

Dr. Rafeh comes to North Oaks Cardiology Clinic from St. George Hospital-University Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon. Before that, he was on the medical staff of the Lebanese Hospital Geitawi-University Medical Center, also in Beirut, Tulane University of School Medicine, and Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System in New Orleans.

Back in the early days of his academic career, Dr. Rafeh graduated with his medical degree from the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Lebanese University in Lebanon. He then went on to serve his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Staten Island University Hospital, and an additional fellowship in interventional cardiology at Tulane University.

A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, he is board-certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Highly regarded in research and education relevant to CTO PCI, Dr. Rafeh serves as a consultant and complex CTO PCI physician proctor for multiple companies. He currently co-chairs the American Progress CTO Registry for the MENATA Chapter (Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Asia) and is a past director and founder of Tulane Medical Center’s CTO program.

He has demonstrated his commitment to sharing his knowledge and expertise with future generations of physicians as an adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, faculty member and interventionist with The Heart and Vascular Institute at Tulane University School of Medicine and as an associate professor of medicine for Balamand University School of Medicine in Beirut.

Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart, as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and electrophysiology. Cardiologists are doctors who diagnose, assess, and treat patients with diseases and defects of the heart and blood vessels (the cardiovascular system).

Serving on the editorial board of multiple peer review journals, Dr. Rafeh has contributed to several research books and articles for peer-reviewed journals including The Lancet, Journal of Women’s Health, Journal for Healthcare Quality, and the International Journal of Cardiology.

In addition to English, he is fluent in Arabic.

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