Hyderabad: Elderly fends off Coronavirus & survives triple bypass

Hyderabad: Where there is a will there is away. A 63-year-old patient underwent complicated triple bypass surgery and was discharged after speedy recovery.

Afsar Khan, a resident of Karwan, had been suffering with coronary artery disease and chest pain on exertion for about a year. In November 2019, he underwent CT coronary angiography which showed blocks in all 3 coronary arteries of the heart. He was kept on medical management.

Unfortunately, Khan contracted Covid 19 and was admitted to a state-run hospital in early April. He was treated there for almost 22 days and recovered at the end of April.

However, after discharging from hospital, his heart symptoms increased and in May he developed unstable angina. With increasing chest pain, he underwent coronary angiography in June. This showed blocks in left main coronary artery, 100% block in LAD coronary artery, as well as tight block in the right coronary artery.

The patient approached a corporate hospital at Banjara Hills where his HRCT chest showed no active Covid 19 lesions and some pulmonary fibrosis. His RTPC result was again negative.

Following detailed counselling with patient and the attendants, a team led by Chief Cardiac Surgeon Dr Prateek Bhatnagar performed triple bypass surgery on Khan on July 16. The patient responded well and was soon discharged in a good medical condition.

According to Dr Prateek Bhatnagar, in Corona positive patients, the main worry is functioning of lungs, particularly in those who had LRTI (lower respiratory tract infection). However, the positive experience of this surgery would be very useful for all the heart patients all over India and abroad, who recovered from Covid 19 infection and need a bypass surgery. Now, these patients can undergo bypass surgery, after a proper work-up, he added.