Mangaluru’s premier healthcare provider, Indiana Hospital and Heart Institute Ltd., achieved yet another milestone in its meritorious journey by performing the first Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement/Implantation (TAVI/TAVR), a new technologically advanced procedure in cardiology, in coastal Karnataka. Thus reaffirming its position as the leading specialty hospital in this part of the country, bringing it on par with some of the top hospitals in India.
The successful procedure was performed on an elderly patient, Samuel Daniel of Madikere, last week by Dr Yusuf Kumble, the Chief Interventional Cardiologist and managing director of Indiana Hospital, along with the hospital’s cardiology team. Indiana is known for its Heart Team Approach concept in tackling heart problems. The patient is now hale and hearty and is ready to be discharged. Speaking to the media, Dr Yusuf Kumble said, “TAVI has revolutionised the way elderly heart patients are treated the world over. It has not been more than two years since this procedure was adopted by some top hospitals in India. And we at Indiana, keeping pace with the emerging technologies in the healthcare sector, were the first to carry out this procedure in coastal Karnataka, showing the way for others in the region to follow suit.”
The patient, Samuel Daniel, who was advised open heart surgery by a hospital for his heart condition, approached Indiana Hospital for a second opinion. When the procedure, TAVI, was explained to Samuel and the members of his family, they agreed to it taking into account the patient’s fear of open surgery and the high risks involved in it. Indiana’s Heart Team then took up the challenge and successfully implanted the new valve through TAVI.
Explains Dr Yusuf Kumble, “Conventionally, an open-heart surgery is performed for replacing the aortic valve for treating aortic stenosis. But a majority of the elderly patients are not fit enough to undergo an open-heart surgery. This is where TAVI becomes a boon to such patients, as in this minimally-invasive procedure, the damaged valve is replaced by a new 26mm valve through a keyhole procedure using a catheter as is done for angiogram. The valve remains folded during insertion and opens up when warm blood flows through it. The procedure takes about 2 hours, and the patient is taken out of the ICU in six hours’ time.”
Elaborating further, Dr Yusuf said, “Another advantage is that if after ten years the replaced valve degenerates, it can be replaced with a new valve. By incorporating this new technology, it has once again been confirmed that Indiana Hospital is in the vanguard in the field of cardiology and interventional procedures. Though for the time being the cost is a bit prohibitive, we expect it to come down as it is an evolving technology. I appeal to the government of India to waive or reduce considerably the high GST levied on TAVI procedure so that the society in general benefits.”
Date : 06 December 2019
Place : Pumpwell, Mangaluru
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