PGIMS-Rohtak doctors perform complex heart valve implant procedure

Rohtak, August 30

A team of doctors at Pt BD Sharma, PGIMS, led by Dr SS Lohchab, gave a new lease of life to a 77-year-old patient from Bihar by performing a complex procedure of heart valve implantation through percutaneous route as the patient was not fit for an open-heart surgery. It was for the first time that a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure was performed at the PGIMS.

Dr SS Lohchab, senior prof, cardiac surgery, and Director, PGIMS, said the patient was brought in with breathing issues and had a swelling on his feet. During the check-up, he was found suffering from severe calcification of aortic valve that reduced the blood flow through the aortic valve. The condition was common among persons more than 60 years of age, said Dr Lohchab.

“It was an uneventful procedure. The artificial heart valve replacement was done through the transcatheter route from the groin by puncturing the artery. TAVR is performed in a few government medical institutions like AIIMS, New Delhi. So, it was a new milestone that we achieved here at PGIMS,” he said.

Lohchab said the procedure was performed by a team of heart surgeons, cardiologists and cardiac anaesthetists under the proctorship of Dr Ravinder Rao from Jaipur.

“The entire team included Dr KS Laller (Senior Prof & HOD, Cardiology), Dr Naveen Malhotra (Senior Prof and HOD, Cardiac Anaesthesia), Dr Ashwani Kumar (Associate Prof, Cardiology), Dr Rajesh Nandal (Assistant Prof, Cardiology), Dr Indira Malik (Assistant Prof, Cardiac Anaesthesia),” told Lohchab.