Chennai hospital saves 60-year-old using unique stent graft

In 2016, a stent graft was placed to fix a leak.
For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)
For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)

CHENNAI: A 60-year-old patient from Vijayawada got a new lease of life thanks to a special team of doctors at Kauvery Hospital here who plugged an aneurysm leak in the patient’s aorta using a unique method.

The surgery which was performed over six to seven hours by a team of 16 specialists from various departments used a specially designed stent graft created in the hospital’s cardiac cath lab to close the 10-cm wide leak in the aorta. “The graft was devised in the shape of a candy wrapper to perfectly fit into the groin vessel. This was then navigated into the neck of the aneurysm leak,” said A B Gopalamurugan, senior cardiologist who performed the surgery on September 7.

The patient, Sathyanarayana Kolla, was declared to be untreatable by many hospitals that he had approached previously in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai as the risk of death was above 40 per cent, said his family during a press meet conducted by the hospital on Saturday. “When he came to us he was in a very critical condition. His haemoglobin level was five points below the normal. He was suffering from severe renal failure and blood loss due to the leak caused by the abnormal swelling of the aorta’s wall,” said Gopalamurugan.

A team consisting of cardiovascular, vascular, plastic surgeons, cardiac radiologists, urologists and cardiologists closed the leak using the graft through an endovascular surgery after closely assessing the damage through 3D reconstructed scans. “The patient has a history of aortic ruptures since 2011. In 2016, a stent graft was placed to fix a leak. But three months ago, his blood vessels started weakening again and he showed all symptoms of an Aortic aneurysm,” he added.

Additionally, the hospital also launched its 24-hour Aortic Department which will tend to all medical conditions concerning the aorta with the help of a special team of doctors specialised in Aortic interventions.

Health minister inaugurates baby screening programme

Chennai: Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar on Saturday launched Neuberg Ehrlich’s Molecular Diagnostics and Genome lab in the city and inaugurated Neuberg Ehrlich new born screening facility at the Children’s Hospital, Egmore. Over 500 children can be screened at the facility per day. Children from Vellore district will be screened for Congenital Hypothyroidism and Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia on a pilot basis. GSK Velu, Chairman Neuberg Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd.  said “Tamil Nadu has seen much advancement in healthcare and I’m happy to announce this new cutting edge facility in Chennai”. Minister of State for External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh also took part in the event.

“Integration of psychiatry and neurology important”

Chennai: Psychiatrists and neurologists must work in tandem to identify effective treatment for complex epileptic problems, said Kousuke Kanemoto of Aichi Medical University, Japan, on Saturday. He was speaking at the 16th MV Arunachalam Endowment Lecture titled ‘Brainstorms and the Mind: Exploring the Borderlands Between Epilepsy and Schizophrenia’, orga-nised by Chennai-based Neurokrish and Trimed Therapy.

“Epilepsy and psychotic disorders like schizophrenia are often associated in many pati-ents. To treat such cases, a holistic treatment should include both mental care and brain care,” he said emphasising that both psychiatrists and neurologists have to come together to cure such cases.

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