Docs perform rare cardiac procedure to correct defect

Aurangabad: Treating a heart complication which manifests in just one per cent of all heart attack cases, city doctors performed a cardiac catheterization to save a 65-year-old woman from Jalna’s Bhokardan tehsil. The patient with ventricular septal defect (VSD) recovered after the the procedure and will be discharged on Wednesday.

The Kamalnayan Bajaj Hospital received the patient soon after she suffered a heart attack earlier this month. Ajit Bhagwat, head of the department of cardiology, said that as an impact of the heart attack, the patient had developed a 12-mm hole in the membrane that separates left and the right sides of the heart. This was leading to the mixing of pure and impure (oxygenated and deoxygenated) blood.

The blood was flowing between the left and right sides, making the patient breathless and blue with low blood pressure, Bhagwat said. He said such patients have less than 5% chance of survival.

Though the membrane hole was diagnosed after an echocardiogram, doctors suspected the condition after observing the murmur through stethoscope.

In order to treat the condition, doctors decided to close the hole by placing an artificial device using catheter insertion through the leg. Following the heart attack, stitching up the hole becomes difficult as the muscles are fragile. In addition, the open heart surgery has a high rate of complication. So a 16-mm device made up of Teflon was used for the purpose.

The symmetrical design of the device fits perfectly into the defect stopping the blood flow between the two sides, Bhagwat said.

Cardiologist Sachin Mukhedkar said that anaesthesia was not used and the patient was conscious during the 70-minute procedure. She felt immediate relief from breathlessness as soon as the device was fitted, the patient confirmed.

The team of doctors included Sachin Nachne, Vaibhav Kulkarni, Gunasagar Padghan and Ashwini Pawar.