Fortis Bangalore: Doctors perform rare TAVR procedure to save 87 year olds life

Bangalore: In a show of exemplary teamwork, the Heart Team of Fortis Hospital Bangalore comprising senior Cardiologists, Cardiac surgeons and Cardiac anesthetists under the leadership of Dr. Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Department Of Cardio-Vascular Science, performed a rare procedure called TAVR (Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement) to give a new lease of life to 87-year old Mr. Subba Rao from Mysore. This rare procedure was performed successfully to treat a severe and otherwise inoperable conditionin the patient’s heart in just over an hour.  In contrast to a regular procedure which takes several hours and requires prolonged hospital stay this novel technique took just over an hour to complete and the patient was discharged in just 5 days.

The heart disease had severely affected ’Subba Raos quality of life and created a danger of sudden death. He often experienced shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing during activity and struggled to walk. He also developed a prostate enlargement that forced him to carry urinary bag whenever he stepped outside as the prostate was inoperable due to the diseased heart. Because of multiple diseases and frail health traditional heart surgery posed a very high degree of risk to the patient’s life and hence the doctors at the hospital suggested that he undergo the TAVR procedure.

“Having witnessed some of India’s best cardiac milestones in the last 25 years, we are extremely proud of performing such a technologically advanced procedure with a multi-disciplinary team of cardiac specialists. This technology is at a nascent stage in India and Fortis Hospital Cunningham Road is fortunate to be one of the few hospitals in the State with the medical expertise to perform such a complex procedure. We want to offer this life saving procedure to many more patients and give them a second chance at healthy living. Fortis hospitals across India have been leaders in the use of this technology,” said Dr. Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Dept. Of Cardio-Vascular Science, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore.

Dr. Gopi, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham Road, who performed the procedure said, “Subba Rao was wheeled into the cath-lab on the day of the operation and after anesthesia, a small incision was put on the groin and a valve was mounted on a wire which was inserted into the artery of his leg. This valve was then deployed on the diseased aortic valve in the heart. In a day’s time the patient was able to move around without much stress. Such procedures are very effective as the recovery is fast and the success rate very high.

In India, only select medical centers which are pre-approved can perform the replacement procedure and that too under the guidance of world renowned medical experts. In this case Dr. Peters Andreka from Hungary was flown in specially to supervise this procedure.

Five days after surgery Subba Rao got discharged and is doing well. His family too has found new hope and is now eagerly waiting for his normalization and rapid recovery. “We are so happy to see him back on his feet as we had lost all hope at one time” said Subba Rao’s son Ramesh.