A 93-year-old freedom fighter whose heart valve had severely narrowed, restricting the blood flow, underwent a procedure at a hospital in Jaipur to replace her main cardiac valve without requiring an open-heart surgery which seemed too risky for ta person this aged.
A team of experts performed transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedure on the patient. The team was led by Dr Ravinder Singh Rao, vice chairman, Rajasthan Hospital and visiting Cardiologist, Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, using ‘made-in-India’ equipment.
A lot of interventional cardiologists from all around the world assembled to witness the surgery. About the patient’s condition Rao mentioned a heart 2-D Echo imaging revealed that she was suffering from aortic stenosis, which refers to the narrowing of the main valve. “As a result, the heart had to pump with greater force against narrowed orifice. Gradually, her cardiac pumping efficiency decreased to 25 per cent and fluid started accumulating in the lungs. This made the patient breathless even on minimal activity,” he said. This came as a shock for her family members as the freedom fighter was leading an active life until a year ago when gradually she started developing shortness of breath – sitting up in the middle of the night due to breathlessness. She had to be hospitalised five times in a year. However, the one saving grace was that the patient was mentally sound and physically strong despite her advanced age and deteriorating condition, the doctor said. TAVI is a minimally invasive non-surgical procedure using cutting-edge technology that allows doctors to replace a valve in the heart without removing the damaged one or without opening up the patient’s chest. In India where most of the medical expenses are paid out of pocket by the family and specialised treatment put them under financial stress, the technology of this made-in-India valve implant is both cost-effective as well keeping the quality aspect intact.