Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Apr 13: A complex double heart valve surgery was successfully performed by the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (CVTS) Super Specialty Hospital (SSH) Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu.
A doctor at the hospital said that a 25-year-old female patient was suffering from Rheumatic Heart Disease with Severe Mitral and Severe Aortic Valve Disease. She had multiple admissions for severe heart valve-related problems in GMC Jammu and had been advised surgery long back, he said.
“The patient was very sick in advanced NYHA functional class and was bedridden. For most of the vital organs, besides oral, she needed aggressive injectable pharmacotherapy for weeks together before surgery,” the doctor said, adding that the patient was operated on under total Cardiopulmonary Bypass (when Aorta is cross-clamped and the heart is not beating) and moderate hypothermia (decreased temperature during surgery).
“The patient had severely diseased, dystrophic, calcific, stenotic and regurgitant valves. Her diseased Mitral and Aortic Valve were excised, calcium was removed and both the valves were replaced with St Jude prosthesis,” the doctor added.
The Cardiac Anesthesia team was led by the Head of Cardio-Thoracic Anesthesia Department Professor (Dr) Pooja Vimesh, and was assisted by Dr Rasmeet, Dr Vikas, Senior Residents and Residents. Senior and other technologists from CTA Vikas Sharma, Sumit and Arif were part of the team.
Anesthesia was so smooth that the intraoperative period, extubation and post-operative period were uneventful, the doctor said.
The surgical team led by Dr I A Mir included Dr Arvind Kohli, Dr Shyam Singh, Dr Mohit Arora, Dr Vivek Gandotra, Dr Javaid Banday.
The Cardiopulmonary machine (which functions for heart/lung during surgery) as usual was run by Sr Perfusionist Charan Jeet Singh and Roshan Lal. Scrub side/flooring and support services were led by Sr staff Vishaali besides Sapna Kumari, Balvir Kour, Fareena, Renu Nathyal, Rigzen Angmo, Sonia Sharma, Arjumand Shaheen, Susheel Sharma, Sunil and Deepak.
The operating surgeon Dr I A Mir said that before the surgery, the patient needed consultations with the Department of Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Chest Disease Medicine, Dermatology and Dentistry.
“Such major operations are not possible without the complete involvement of other super-specialists, able cardiac anesthetist, inter-departmental consultations, perfusionists, scrub sisters, supportive and ICU staff,” he said, adding, “The morbidity and mortality do not depend only on the valves to be replaced, but it depends on pre-admission, perioperative, intraoperative and postoperative parameters also.”
Before surgery, she was on support, diuretics, bronchodilators, anticoagulants and so many other drugs. “Her postoperative period has been uneventful and she has been discharged in excellent condition. Over a short period of time, her NYHA functional class has also improved and she is in functional class II,” Dr Mir said.
The Department in a statement said it is grateful to the Principal and Dean GMC Jammu Dr Shashi Sudhan Sharma “who has always been at the forefront to bring the department at par with other best centers in India”. “Her ever-encouraging words, scientific approach, helping attitude, patient and staff-oriented decisions are always inspiring,” it said.
