For the first time in the history of medical sciences in Assam, Apollo Hospital, Guwahati has successfully accomplished the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Procedure.
The procedure was carried out by the cardiac team of the hospital on a 73-year-old female who complain of difficulties in breathing, chest pain on exertion accompanied by fatigue.
The patient was admitted to the hospital and had to undergo a CT scan angiogram where it was detected that as a result of calcium deposition in the leaflets of the Aortic valve, the leaflets of the valve could not open and close properly during every heartbeat. This resulted in restricted blood flow to all the organs of the body.Image: The doctors of the cardiac team of the Apollo Hospital, Guwahati
The heart has four valves and the aortic valve is one of the most important as it helps to eject and it goes to the artery circulation and it helps in perfusion of all the critical organs like lung, liver, brain etc.
Once the person grows old, deposition of calcium is seen on the walls of the aortic valve resulting in the thickening of the wall causing Stenosis. This valve is called a Calcified Aortic Valve. This condition is very serious, which hampers the blood flow to the major critical organs.
When it came to valve replacement surgery, Open Heart Surgeries used to be done where an opening is made in the chest and the damaged valve is replaced with another valve, which is either a metallic valve or bio-prosthetic valve.
In most cases, patients who need such a surgery mostly have health issues like diabetes, kidney issues or asthmatics problems and at times it becomes very risky to operate the patient. In such a situation the TAVR is a new technology process. Image: Dr Rituparna Baruah
Once the person grows old, deposition of calcium is seen on the walls of the aortic valve resulting in the thickening of the wall causing STENOSIS. This valve is called CALCIFIED AORTIC VALVE.
It is a very skillful surgery that is done without opening the chest wall. It is a keyhole procedure where an incision is made in the groin or any other part of the body. A long catheter with steel, another valve is introduced without opening the chest wall.
Defining TAVR, Cardiologist Dr. Rituparna Baruah (senior cardiologist at Apollo Hospital, Guwahati) said that this is a revolutionary invention in the field of structural heart disease.
Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Dr. Dibyajyoti Dutta said that this surgery also serves as awareness among the people. The aortic valve is a very important valve of the heart and after a certain age of 70/80 in most people, the walls of this artery start stiffening. Later in some cases, this condition might even lead to failure of the heart as it becomes weak day by day.
It is a fact that if an artery gets affected in such a way, it is difficult to expect that the person will survive more than 2 years. This surgery can be easily done on patients having prior health conditions like diabetes, kidney issues or asthmatic trouble. Image: A picture explaining the TAVR surgery
The days of hospital stay also get reduced and ensures quick recovery. The price of the entire procedure goes up to 14 to 15 lakh (including the cost of the valve and the hospital charges).
Talking to Fit Northeast, Dr. Baruah said about the follow-up procedure post-TAVR. He said that they generally keep the patients for 3 to 4 days in the hospital.
"There are very few chances of complications like heart block, bleeding at the puncture point at the femoral artery in the groin. The next follow-up consists of an echocardiogram after a week of surgery. The position of the valve is mainly monitored in this stage, improvement of stenosis. Then the patient is called twice a month followed by once in a month" he said.
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