Doctors perform complex non-surgical valve implantation on young patient in Delhi

New Delhi, October 31

An eight-year-old girl has received a new lease of life after undergoing a rare non-surgical procedure related to pulmonary valve at a leading Army hospital here.

The complex advanced intervention was performed on October 28 at Army Hospital (Research & Referral), defense officials said.

The girl, weighing a mere 28 kg, is the “youngest and smallest child in the country” to have undergone this non-surgical valve implantation, particularly in the government sector, they said.

The Army Hospital (R&R) team has so far performed 13 cases of pulmonary valve implantation in the last one year, which is the highest among the two government institutes in the country that have done such cases, officials added.

Till this procedure (trans catheter implantation of cardiac pulmonary valve) was introduced in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) by the team at Army Hospital (R&R) on October 7, 2022, the cardiac (pulmonary) valve used to be replaced through an open heart by-pass surgery, which is not only extremely painful and cumbersome but also carries significant risk of morbidity and mortality as well as prolonged hospital stay, they said.

With this novel non-surgical procedure, a patient is discharged within two-three days post-intervention, without any scar on the body.

The introduction of this path-breaking highly specialised, non-surgical intervention in the armed forces and government sector of the country is a ‘game-changer’ and has opened fresh avenues for many such children requiring valve replacement, with significantly improved quality of life, the defense officials said.

It is a ‘quantum leap’ towards providing advanced cardiac care in children. It ushers a new era not only for the AFMS but also for other government hospitals of the country, taking them to a new higher platform, they said.