The Department of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery of Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai for the first time performed a hybrid surgery involving both surgical process and Cath lab process to treat a 68-year-old patient diagnosed with a rare condition called Thoracoabdominal aneurysm.
As the condition, which is already life-threatening, was doubled with another problem that led to poor pumping of the heart, and he was rejected treatment in many private hospitals. Even those that offered treatment charged more than ₹20 lakh for the treatment, said Dharmaraj, Dean in-charge, GRH.
As the patient’s family could not afford such a huge amount, they visited GRH as their last resort. The cardiology department doctors, who analysed the patient through coronary angiogram, learned the patient to be suffering from severe stenosis of Left Anterior Descending Artery (LAD) - a major blood vessel supplying blood to the heart.
The options were either open heart surgery for aneurysm and coronary artery disease or complex stenting of aorta and coronary artery, which was more advanced, requiring meticulous planning than the former procedure, said, Marvin, Head, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
“But due to the age factor, surgery procedure was deemed risky as it might end up in complications like bleeding, stroke and heart failure, so doctors’ teams decided to proceed with the latter procedure, which required a bypass grafting surgery in the neck followed by stenting of coronary artery and thoracic aorta done in Cardiothoracic Operation Theatre and Cath lab respectively,” he added.
Doctors said that as these types of conditions were rare, they were not handy with the method. “A lot of effort and time has to be put in it to complete the procedure,” they added.
Moreover, they said, GRH stood first in stenting patients with cardiac problems. “As the government hospitals in nearby district do not possess such sophisticated equipment, people from those districts too visit GRH to get treated.
Further, doctors clarified, there was no unnecessary delay in performing cardiac surgeries, the postponement would be due to the co-morbidities like elevated blood pressure, diabetes. “Only when we find the patient fit enough to undergo surgery, we can start the procedure,” they added.
