NEW DELHI: A middle-aged Tanzanian man, who had in the past received a kidney transplant, underwent a rare and complicated heart surgery at a private hospital in the national capital. The patient was suffering from breathlessness, fatigue and palpitations, which were diagnosed as being caused by a major heart valve (aortic valve) leakage and enlargement (aneurysm) of the ascending aorta.
The condition of the patient was so serious that he could face sudden death. The seven-hour-long, complicated, and extremely rare heart surgery was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr Gaurav Gupta, senior consultant and head of cardiovascular surgery, PSRI Hospital.
"Open heart surgery was the only option as the patient’s major heart valve (aortic valve) was leaking and the aorta, which supplies blood to the entire body, became enlarged and could have lead to rupture and sudden death. Keeping this in mind we decided to perform Bentall operation, which is a high-risk procedure but provided the best option," said Dr Gupta.
The Bentall operation is one of the biggest and most risky surgery of the heart. It involves replacing a major part of the heart with an artificial graft. Aortic valve and ascending aorta (major vessel supplying blood to the whole body) are replaced and coronary arteries (vessels supplying blood to the heart itself) are replanted on the new artificial aorta.
According to the hospital, this patient had higher serum creatinine. However, with adequate fluid and medical management his kidney function remained stable and even improved after the surgery. The successful operation sends a positive message to kidney transplant patients that it is possible to get treated for other serious heart ailments safely.