39-year-old woman belonging to Congo undergoes bloodless open-heart surgery

Highlights: Commonly used 6-8 units of blood in an open-heart surgery, was ruled out in Bibiche case.

BENGALURU: Bibiche Tshibola Makolo, a 39-year-old woman belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a homemaker and mother of three kids, underwent a bloodless open-heart surgery and valve repair in Bengaluru. As she was suffering from restrictive cardiomyopathy.

Bibiche is a part of the Jehovah Witness community which restricts receiving blood or blood products. So the commonly used 6-8 units of blood in an open-heart surgery, was ruled out in Bibiche case.

Dr Vivek Jawali, chief cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon, chairman, department of cardiovascular sciences, Fortis Hospitals, said that, “When she was brought to the hospital in early February, her haemoglobin level was just 7gm per decilitre. With due respect to her religious beliefs, we recommended she undergo bloodless surgery, where a plan was made by an hematologist, an anaesthetist and a team of cardiac surgeons. The surgery was conducted using all blood conservation techniques practised at our unit for patients. It was successful and no blood transfusion was required during the entire procedure. We made sure damage to the blood components during surgery was minimal.”

According to Dr Murali Chakravarthy, director, department of anaesthesia, “A bloodless surgery is risky and can lead to hemorrhagic shock in the patient. However, Bibiche responded well to treatment. We had ensured the patient and her family’s religious beliefs were duly respected and we would not conduct any blood transfusion during the surgery.”

Roger Muamba, Bibiche husband, had said that, “We were not sure if we would receive a treatment where our beliefs are considered. We remain grateful to the doctors who operated on her and saved her with constant support.”