Mumbai: A 71-year-old woman from Baramati, who previously underwent two open-heart surgeries and weighed only 33kg, received life-saving treatment at KEM Hospital, Parel. On Wednesday, cardiologists successfully repaired her leaking mitral valve without surgical cuts or general anaesthesia.
For Indu Raut’s family, the procedure not only meant she was spared a major surgery but was also economical, costing half of what private facilities charge. At private institutions, this minimally invasive valve replacement technique costs Rs 20 lakh, but public hospitals charge only for the valve and consumables, excluding procedure and hospital stay costs.
“Her mitral valve replacement was done surgically in 2014, but it started leaking again two years ago,” said Indu’s son, Shyam Raut. She had rheumatic heart disease, which develops after childhood infection by group A streptococci bacteria.
Her previous surgeon advised against any fresh intervention, citing Indu’s enlarged heart, frail condition and respiratory issues that complicated anaesthesia administration. Her health, however, deteriorated, and she was hospitalised multiple times. Three months ago, when they sought medical attention, their regular doctor was on leave, and his replacement, a KEM alumnus, suggested consulting the Parel facility.
Indu was admitted to KEM on Feb 16, but required several days of tests and assessments to determine the right valve size as her previous medical papers were lost, said cardiologist Dr Shreyas Ravat, who was the proctor for the procedure. Cardiology head Dr Ajay Mahajan, who performed the procedure with Dr Girish Sabnis and Dr Charan Lanjewar, said the pressure in the affected heart chamber was high and her lungs were congested owing to which they couldn’t use a transesophageal echocardiogram (which uses ultrasound to create pictures of the heart). “In fact, we were going blind to fix the mitral valve.”
Dr Brian Pinto from Holy Family Hospital, Bandra, said performing mitral valve procedures without a transesophageal echocardiogram is uncommon. “The minimally invasive method is relatively new, but is picking up.”