Smaller cuts for heart repairs show better outcome | Chennai News - Times of India

Source: The Times of India

Chennai: Making smaller cuts without opening up the chest to repair ailing hearts in two commonly seen conditions has reduced pain, complications, and recovery time in patients, doctors at the Madras Medical Mission said here on Friday.

Young patients requiring heart valve replacement are given mechanical valves as their durability is superior to tissue valves.

"However, these valves come with a risk. Some patients can develop a life-threatening clot within the valve. Traditionally, they are treated with redo surgery. But this comes with high risk, or a therapy that has a risk of bleeding and a 10% failure rate," said senior cardiologist and director of adult cardiology Dr. Ajit Mullasari.

A team of doctors led by Dr Mullasari devised a technique called percutaneous transcatheter release of stuck leaflets or PETROS that avoids open surgery. "Just like angioplasty in the blood vessels, a balloon is dilated in the valve to remove the clot. We created special filters to catch the flying debris," he said. The hospital has used the procedure on more than 35 patients.

The second procedure deals with a hole in the heart or atrial septal defect. This case was a rare type in the upper wall between the heart chambers and caused oxygenated blood to mix with deoxygenated blood. Senior pediatric cardiologist Dr. Sivakumar said, "We used scans, CT angiogram, and 3D virtual reality to understand the nature of the defects in each patient. Stents are placed in the blood vessel that brings deoxygenated blood to the right atrium. The stent separates it from oxygenated blood in the chamber." Unlike traditional open surgery, patients get discharged on the third day. The hospital has performed more than 150 such surgeries, he said.