HYDERABAD: In a major medical success, doctors of Medicover Hospital saved the life of a Covid patient who had blockages in three heart vessels and suffered a heart stroke. Both his lungs and heart were damaged due to the virus, requiring doctors to perform a highly specialised, high-risk procedure to save him.
The patient, a 32-year-old man who had tested positive for Covid-19, had suffered a severe heart stroke. An angiogram revealed that he had 100 per cent occlusion (blockage) of two arteries, while and a third blood vessel was 95 per cent blocked. He has a family history of premature coronary artery diseases.
As per hospital officials, he was rushed to the hospital with symptoms of fever and shortness of breath, after which tests confirmed that he had suffered a heart stroke. Further tests revealed he had contracted Covid-19 too, and his lungs were severely infected, making his condition highly vulnerable.
“Our first step was to ensure his dropped blood pressure levels were stabilised for any further assessment or treatment. Pre-procedure was done using an intra-aortic balloon pump and elective intubation of the patient. He was put through multi-vessel percutaneous angioplasty with drug-eluting stents placed in him. In such a complex situation, the tolerance levels of the patient are critical, but this young man showed the heart to pull through the procedures,” said Dr Anil Krishna, chairman, Medicover Group (India).
Generally, such patients have a mortality rate of 90 per cent.