Government charity hosps in city performing major heart processes

Nagpur: Though cases of the young suffering heart attacks are creating a scare in the public mindset these days, hospitals equipped with advanced technology and skilled doctors are proving to be a relief.
Not only private hospitals, but government charity hospitals have done some specialized procedures in the last two weeks.
A super speciality hospital attached to Government Medical College (GMC) in Nagpur became the first government hospital in the region to perform a transcatheter closure of a rare heart hole that happened due to a severe heart attack.
“The patient was 85 years old and the open heart surgery was not possible in his case. His kidneys were also deteriorating. So, we decided to go for the device fixture of the hole. We used the ADO-I device. It was done using catheter without any cut,” said Dr PP Deshmukh, head of the cardiology department of the hospital.
As the hole was fixed, the patient started showing recovery signs within 24 hours. His kidneys also improved. So, the doctors decided to go for the next phase in which they re-opened the closed artery of the patient. “It was comparatively easy to conduct angioplasty after the hole was fixed. The patient recovered very fast and is now doing well. We have studied the literature about such complicated cases. Less than 100 such cases have been fully successful all over the world till date. We made one of them,” Dr Deshmukh added. The entire process was done free of cost.
Earlier, the Vivekanand Medical Mission Hospital in Khapri also performed its first heart surgery on a two-year-old boy. Cardiac surgeon Dr Sandeep Khanzode, who conducted this surgery, said it was a humble beginning for the charity hospital. “The parents of this boy were from a poor economical background and were not able to pay the fees. So, the hospital waived off the entire expenses of the surgery,” he said.
The boy also had a hole on his heart due to a birth defect. Such surgeries are commonly done in private set-ups. But a charity hospital doing this surgery at zero cost is a big achievement.
Several social organizations and trusts are sponsoring surgeries at Vivekanand Medical Mission Hospital. Recently, they conducted a free heart check-up of 35 children in the 2-18 age group who had some or the other ailment. Out of them, six were shortlisted for heart surgeries. Urmi Pandit Trust is supporting these surgeries and the hospital will be conducting them soon.