New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) A 74-year-old man with the rare condition of dextrocardia, wherein the heart is positioned on the right side of the chest, has been successfully treated at a private health facility here, the hospital authorities said on Wednesday.
The patient, Inderpal Singh, underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in Okhla. The hospital authorities claimed this was the first instance of the procedure being conducted for dextrocardia in India.
Singh had been suffering from breathlessness on exertion for the past one-and-a-half years and chest pain for a few weeks.
He was also diagnosed with aortic stenosis — narrowed malfunctioning heart valve — after being admitted to the hospital, and had other health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, high body mass index and obstructive sleep apnea.
TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure that repairs the aortic heart valve without removing the old, damaged valve, by placing a replacement valve through a catheter or tube inserted through the femoral artery — main blood vessel supplying blood to the lower body.
The procedure is also beneficial for treating patients with previously failed bioprosthetic valve, thus, avoiding any major surgery.
The hospital authorities said that the TAVR procedure was carried out successfully by a team of doctors, wherein his abnormal heart valve was replaced using cardiac catheter through skin puncture, thus avoiding a risky open surgery.
“This was a very rare case, where the heart was anatomically not located in its normal position since birth. The TAVR procedure lasted for five hours. Chances of mortality, in this case, was extremely high (above 25 per cent in first year and 50 per cent in two years), whereas, survival chances are mostly 100 per cent after the TAVR procedure.
“If the patient was not treated and diagnosed on time, his condition could have deteriorated and he could have suffered heart attack,” said Atul Mathur, Executive Director, Interventional Cardiology, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.
Bidesh Chandra Paul, Zonal Director at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, said that this is the first case in India, where the TAVR procedure was performed on a patient with dextrocardia.
“It was a very risky and medically challenging case. A thorough evaluation and adequate monitoring ensured that the patient’s conditions did not worsen, and he recovered,” Paul said. PTI ABU SMN
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Source: The Print
