At the international conference to be held in Tokyo next week, doctors from Madras Medical Mission (MMM) will present the results of implanting indigenous Meril valve.
MMM has been providing transcatheter valve therapy as non-surgical method of treating those with valvular heart disease. Once used for high-risk surgery patients, it is now used on low risk patients too, said cardiologists. So far, most of the transcatheter valve treatments have been performed in the replacement of damaged aortic valve. But other valves like the mitral valve and pulmonary valve can also be treated similarly now, doctors said.
The made-in-India Meril valve, has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India and its European counterpart. “This valve is now accessible at half the cost of the American or European valve and is affordable for Indian patients,” said Ajit Mullasari, director of Cardiology.
So far, 20 Meril mitral valve implantations have been done in the country, three of which were done at MMM, he said.
The initial results of this valve in aortic, mitral and pulmonary positions were excellent. The first 11 cases are being presented at the international congress next week, he added.
“Transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation has evolved as a viable, safe, less morbid procedure of implanting a valve made from xenograft pericardial tissue into the pulmonary position” said K.Sivakumar, Head of Paediatric Cardiology. According to K.Sivakumar, Head of Paediatric Cardiology, so far, in the country, 47 pulmonary valves have been implanted, with MMM implanting 22 of them.
“The Madras Medical Mission had taken the lead for setting up the first core lab for intravascular imaging five years ago and is now setting up the first core lab in the country for structural therapy. The core lab will be named after Dr. Mathew Samuel Kalarickal, one of the pioneers of interventional cardiology in the country, who has trained multiple interventionists in coronary and structural therapy,” Dr. Mullasari said.