The Department of Cardiology successfully performed a non-surgical procedure on a woman in her final stage of pregnancy. Rewvathy Kailairajan, Dean of the Madurai Medical College, said that this was the first time such procedure was performed on a pregnant woman in the Government Rajaji Hospital.
M. Valarmathi, hailing from Srivilliputtur, was brought to the GRH with rheumatic heart disease involving the mitral valve area.
She was at the risk of heart failure and was subsequently admitted into the GRH following which a team of cardiologists decided to perform ‘balloon valvotomy,’ a non-surgical procedure on her.
“We did not want to postpone the surgery till she delivered her baby since complications could have arisen for her during childbirth due to her heart condition. The balloon valvotomy involves the introduction of a specially made balloon into the blood vessel in the thigh with the help of a balloon catheter which reaches the heart and dilates the obstruction in the valve,” explained S. Balasubramanian, Head, Cardiology department.
The non-surgical procedure was chosen as an alternative since this surgical procedure to correct her heart ailment could have endangered her life during the final stage of pregnancy.
“While the procedure has become common over the years, it is pretty rare that it has been performed on a pregnant woman,” Mr Balasubramanian added.
While the surgery was performed on August 8, the patient recovered and went into labour around 13 days later after which she had a healthy baby through a normal delivery.
“While the doctors were able to cure me, the baby is also perfectly healthy and there were no complications during my delivery,” she said.
The non-surgical procedure, which was first performed in 1982 in the world, is being performed for patients in the GRH for the last six years during which at least 20 procedures have been performed to remove obstructions in any of the heart valves.
