SGPGI undertakes transcatheter heart valve implant

Lucknow: The Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) has scored another first by performing the first transcatheter heart valve implant in Uttar Pradesh.

The Department of Cardiology at SGPGI performed the first major cardiac interventional procedure which is called the transcatheter aortic valve implant without open heart surgery.

This was done on a Corona negative patient, Rajneesh (64) who had severe obstruction of the aortic valve, the main outlet valve of the heart, producing back pressure and failure of the major pumping chamber, the left ventricle.

With this dysfunction of the pumping chamber, the patient is severely symptomatic with shortness of breath and has limited longevity of life. He is also not able to with stand the risks of open-heart surgery the usual standard way to replace a valve.

The transcatheter valve replacement is a new technique and was pioneered by Prof. P.K. Goel, Head of the Cardiology Department, SGPGI, Lucknow.

Prof. Goel said that the procedure is performed through a bore hole made in the major artery of the leg and a valve of nearly 3 centimetres in diameter in a crimped state and is able to travel through the arterial tree of the human body so as to reach the heart mounted on a catheter.

This valve on reaching the right location is inflated across the pre-existing deformed and obstructed native valve giving a new competent valve to the patient.

It produces almost immediate recovery in patients' symptoms and gradual recovery in heart function over time.

The procedure is done under local anaesthesia with no risks of associated open-heart surgery and general anaesthesia like intubation/cardio pulmonary bypass/ventilator use.

The team that performed the procedure was headed by Prof. Goel and was assisted by Dr Roopali Khanna, Additional Professor, Cardiology Department.

This procedure was a boon for this critical patient who was admitted for more than three weeks because of his severe symptoms. The procedure cost was approximately Rs 20 lakhs.