A rare surgery conducted on a 36-year-old man from Surat by doctors at a Mumbai hospital has put an end to severe breathing problems being faced by him for over eight years. In fact, these last two years have been particularly difficult as he had to move around with an oxygen cylinder.
When Bhaveshbhai Sabhadia approached Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital (Sir HNRFH) for treatment, he was unable to walk more than a few steps at a time, was not getting sleep in the night and had been on and off hospitalisation due to water accumulation in the abdomen region. He had been told that the only way to save his life was a heart and lung transplant. However, doctors at Reliance conducted a rare curative surgical procedure instead of a heart-lung transplant as suggested by international and Indian experts.
“The doctors evaluated his health condition and diagnosed him with chronic thrombus pulmonary embolism (CTPEH), a condition wherein the patient has high blood pressure in the lungs’ arteries. They also found that the right side of his heart was severely damaged and the blood pressure in the lung vessels was four times more than the normal,” said hospital officials.
CTPEH is a rare and severe form of pulmonary hypertension (PH) which goes undiagnosed in most cases. In Mr. Sabhadia’s case too, it was diagnosed very late leading to severe damage to his heart.
Dr. Anvay Mulay and his team of doctors at Sir HNRFH decided to go for pulmonary endarterectomy surgery instead of the heart-lung transplant.
“Though it was a high risk and challenging surgery, doctors managed to remove the old blood clots from the pulmonary arteries in the lungs and reduce the blood pressure inside the arteries. Post the surgery, doctors were happy to see the right side of the heart responding well and showing remarkable improvement,” the hospital said in a statement.
“In Mr. Sabhadia’s case, it was a level 3-4 CTPEH making it technically a difficult surgery. It was heartening to see a terminally ill patient, who was waiting for heart-lung transplant, walk home with his own organs,” said Dr. Mulay, director cardiac surgery and heart transplant, Sir HNRFH.
Mr. Sabhadia, who works in a diamond unit in Surat, is out of danger and ready to lead a normal life. He had been suffering from this ailment since 2012 and the situation had aggravated in the recent past.
