TIRUCHY: In what is touted to be a first in the district, Radiofrequency ablation (RAF), a nonsurgical procedure to treat irregular heartbeats, was successfully performed by a team of doctors at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) in Tiruchy on Thursday.
The procedure was performed on a total of three patients -- a 43-year-old and a 47-year-old woman, and a 57-year-old man. They are well, authorities said, adding that the procedure was done free of cost. Terming it a pioneering effort, the Head of the Department, Dr P Jaisankar, praised the team of doctors who undertook the procedure. Explaining the process, he said, "There are two types of rhythm variations.
The first one involves higher variations in heartbeat and the other is comparatively lower. The treatment for the latter condition involves placing pacemaker, whereas cases with higher heartbeats are treated with RAF." The condition of high heart rate variability, according of Dr Jaisankar, starts from birth.
An extra nerve near to the heart, usually in a circular shape, is the cause of the condition, and the RAF is performed to intervene and straightening it. The advantage of such a procedure, Jaisankar said, is that medicines are not required post the surgery.
The Dean of MGMGH, D Nehru, said, "Under a CM scheme, the operation, which usually costs around Rs 2 lakh, was done free of cost. We acquired the machines for it a few months back. Such a facility is not available in many of the neighbouring districts, and the doctors used to refer patients to Omandurar hospital in Chennai. However, Tiruchy from now on would be able to treat patients with heartbeat-related issues."