BENGALURU: Pakistani woman Arifa Bano (43) travelled across boundaries to Bengaluru to get treated for a complex heart condition, mitral regurgitation (leakage of the heart) for over 27 years.
Doctors in Pakistan suggested to Arifa to undergo open heart surgery, but she was not very keen on it. Finally, she decided to undergo a minimally invasive procedure at Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bengaluru, following suggestions from friends and family.
Dr Uday Khanolkar, senior consultant (interventional cardiology), Narayana Hrudayalaya, said Arifa was diagnosed with mitral regurgitation at the age of 16, and was advised to undergo valve surgery by repair or replacement, which typically requires open heart surgery. She had been experiencing breathlessness for
over a decade, and her condition had gradually worsened over the past 1.5 years, significantly affecting her daily routine.
She underwent the ‘MitraClip’ procedure in which a small clip is inserted into the heart via a small puncture near the thigh, which is minimally invasive and can be performed in complex heart cases. She was hospitalised for 72 hours and discharged in a normal-active condition.
Proton therapy, in another recent case, a 12-year-old boy from Bengaluru suffering from pinealoblastoma— a rare cancer occurring in the pineal gland of the brain— was also successfully treated with proton beam therapy (PBT) at Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC), which is also South Asia’s only proton therapy centre.
Venkata Srisaravana Vemula was diagnosed with the rare disease in October 2018. Post receiving five cycles of chemotherapy and consultations at APCC Chennai, craniospinal radiation (CSI) using proton beam therapy, followed by tumour bed boost using IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) was planned for him. Treatment was started on March 25, 2019, post which the size of the pineoblastoma lesion significantly reduced. Doctors from Apollo Hospital said radiation therapy is bringing new hope for patients with cancer.
The incidence of patients with cancer of the nervous system (CNS) has been rising in India, with an increased mortality rate and advancement in technology is helping treat terminal cases. They said that CNS ranges from 5 to 10 per 1,00,000 people and accounts for 2 per cent of total cancer cases globally.