KOCHI: The Ernakulam General Hospital achieved yet another feat when an emergency surgery, involving the replacement of a valve, was carried out without opening the heart. A 69-year-old Perumbavoor resident, who was critical due to an enlarged aortic valve, was successfully operated on at the hospital on Saturday.
The procedure called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is available only at a few government hospitals, like the Sree Chitra Institute. The facility was recently made available at the General Hospital, said Dr Sajith John, Ernakulam project manager, National Health Mission.
According to Dr Asha K John, the hospital superintendent-in-charge, the valve was replaced by making a small incision in a blood vessel in the leg and then passing a catheter through it. The operation required only a small amount of sedation, she said.
The surgery went smoothly as a result of the joint efforts of the departments of cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and cardiac anaesthesia, said Dr Asha. The patient is expected to be discharged from the hospital in two days. Dr Ashish Kumar, Dr Paul Thomas and Dr Vijo George of the cardiology department, Dr George Valouran of the cardiac surgery department, and Dr Geo Paul and Dr Divya Gopinath of the cardiac anaesthesia department led the surgery. The hospital has carried out over 20,000 angiograms, angioplasty and pacemaker treatments to date, Dr Asha pointed out.