CHENNAI: With the advancement in medical treatment, people with heart problems now have more procedures to choose from. One such is endoventricular patch plasty (EVPP), suggested for patients diagnosed with bulging of the left ventricle (a chamber of the heart), which cause heart failures.
Apollo Hospitals performed 975 EVPP procedures from 1997 to May 2015, with a 75% success rate. During the procedure, the bulging part of the blood vessel in the left ventricle is removed and the heart is restored to its normal shape with a patch to help restore blood supply.
On Thursday, Vivekanandha, a 54-year-old patient who recently underwent the EVPP procedure shared his experience at a press meet. “I had shortness of breath and pain. After I was diagnosed with bulging of the left ventricle, leading to severe heart attack, the doctors suggested this procedure, and I am now doing fine,” he said. Myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as heart attack, occurs when blood flows to a part of the heart stops, damaging its muscle.
Dr Janardhana Reddy, cardiothoracic surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, said, “A major heart attack can turn heart muscle into scar tissue that doesn’t contract with the rest of the heart and can cause the heart to be inefficient. Removal of this scar tissue and restoring the heart to a more normal shape and size improves its efficiency.” This procedure benefits patients who have systolic heart failure which makes the heart inefficient and those who have shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling, abnormal weight gain, that don’t get relieved with medication and lifestyle changes.