NIMS doctors conduct complex heart procedure

The cardiology department of NIMS announced the successful completion of a complex heart procedure on a 19-year-old girl

Hyderabad: High-end technically difficult cardiac procedures, which are usually the domain of corporate hospitals, are now being taken up frequently at government hospitals in Telangana.

On Saturday, the cardiology department of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) announced the successful completion of a complex heart procedure on a 19-year-old girl, Jahnavi, which would have cost at least Rs 50 lakh at a corporate hospital in Hyderabad.

Led by Dr O Sai Satish, professor in cardiology, a team of senior surgeons from NIMS saved the girl’s life by avoiding an open-heart surgery and taking up a minimally invasive procedure which involved the deployment of an artificial pulmonary valve through her right femoral vein and closing of the Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) in her heart with a device in a single setting.

This is for the first time in Telangana that such a high-end heart procedure was carried out at a government hospital. “The girl was born with multiple heart conditions and underwent an open-heart surgery when she was four years old. However, complications persisted. Her father had medical insurance in Singareni. With the hope of getting her treated, he took her to private hospitals, which quoted exorbitant cost to conduct the procedure. On humanitarian grounds, we decided to intervene and wrote to the Singareni management, who allocated Rs 14 lakh for the surgery,” Dr Satish said.

Jahnavi had pulmonary regurgitation, which is the leakage of blood from the pulmonary artery into the right ventricle of the heart, and was advised surgery. When she came to NIMS, the doctors diagnosed a pulmonary valve leakage and hole in the upper portion of heart, known as Atrial Septal Defect.

“Conducting an open-heart surgery was out of question because of the risks involved. That’s why we decided to conduct a minimally invasive surgery. The girl has recovered and will be discharged in a day or two,” the doctors said.

Dr Satish led a team of caregivers, comprising of Dr B Srinivas, Dr Hemanth Harish, Dr Archana, Dr Srikiran and Dr Shailesh, and anesthetic support by Prof Nirmala, cathlab technicians and nursing staff.