Tricky surgery saves 50-yr-old from deadly heart rupture

Nagpur: A 50-year-old man, who developed a deadly complication after suffering a heart attack, was saved by a skilled and advanced procedure at New Era Hospital. The man suffered a rare complication called ‘ventricular septal rupture’, in which the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart develops a hole. If not treated, the blood in the two chambers starts mixing, flows to the lungs, and fills them, resulting in death. About 90% of patients with this complication die.
“The patient came from a local hospital in critical condition. This complication requires high-risk open heart surgery, which itself carries 15-20% death risk. Another option to avoid this surgery is closing this defect with a device without surgery,” said Dr Nidheesh Mishra, who performed this procedure along with the New Era team.
“We took it as a challenge. We planned closure of this defect by septal occlude device, which looks like an umbrella. As the hole developed due to sudden heart attack, it was not a tiny one like some patients have due to a birth defect. So, we used a bigger device. Eventually, we were successful and the blood mixing stopped,” said Dr Anand Sancheti, senior cardiothoracic surgeon.
The patient was lucky because the operation was such success that he started showing positive signs within hours. The procedure was performed on November 23, and the patient was discharged in stable condition on November 26. Doctors have claimed that this was the first successful device closure process in Central India.
Other heart surgeons in city also confirmed this to TOI. “It’s a tricky procedure as heart muscles are frail, and many times it is difficult to place and fix the device in perfect position,” said cardiologist Dr Amar Amale.
“It’s a deadly complication after heart attack and not many manage to survive. There had been some attempts of this procedure in city, but this was a rare successful attempt in which the patient has recovered and was discharged,” said Dr Amey Beedkar.
The New Era team of doctors was lead by Dr Manish Choukhandre, Dr Nidheesh Mishra, Dr Anand Sancheti, and assisted by Dr Sandip Dhoot, Dr Ayushma Jejani and other cath lab staff.
Dr Nilesh Agrawal, director of the hospital, said Nagpur has all advanced heart care facilities now. “We have skilled doctors and as well as advanced technology. The city is capable of handling such critical cases very well now,” he said.
DEVICE CLOSURE
Heart attack caused hole in wall between two ventricles, which is rare and deadly
To close the hole, doctors placed a special device over hole, sealed it shut
The hole happened due to heart attack (shock), so placing device at right position was crucial
Patient recovered within 24 hours, discharged after 3 days in stable condition