HYDERABAD: In a first, a combined heart surgery on a foreign national suffering from an end stage kidney ailment was performed in a city-based private hospital. The surgery for removal of a tumour in the heart, along with multiple bypass surgery, was performed on fifty four-year-old Md Saleem from Yemen, who has undergone dialysis 3-4 times a week for the last five years.

Such a surgery has not been reported earlier and is now being sent to medical journals for publication. Md Saleem was admitted to a city-based private hospital on January 21 with shortness of breath. “The patient had recently developed shortness of breath and was unable to walk even a few steps when admitted. A 2D echo study revealed that he had a large tumour in his heart and further evaluation showed multiple blocks in his coronary arteries. This was an extremely risky operation and not reported earlier in medical literature,” said Dr Prateek Bhatnagar, chief cardiac surgeon Sunshine Hospitals Gachibowli, who performed the surgery along with his team.