At B&M Patel Cardiac Centre of SKH, an elderly patient successfully underwent TAVI, a non-surgical heart procedure

Old age is no more a limitation in our country to get benefit from advancement in interventional cardiology to increase survival, even at our medical institute located in rural areas.

 

"Elderly patients (75 or over) who are admitted to the hospital with cardiac diseases may still get benefit from non-surgical Interventional cardiology procedures, despite their age. The advanced treatment in interventional cardiology is available (with a similar best outcome as cardiology institutes of western developed countries) at Bhanubhai and Maduben Patel Cardiac Centre of Shree Krishna Hospital, teaching hospital of Bhaikaka University, Karamsad" said Dr. Kushal Pujara, Interventional Cardiologist.

 

This is a milestone in our Charotar area because this patient is an elderly person in western India, specifically in Gujarat, who underwent the TAVI procedure successfully using the India-made artificial aortic valve.

 

"This patient was admitted to Shree Krishna Hospital a few weeks ago with severe pneumonia and recovered well with the treatment guidance of Dr. Abhishek Prajapati, Pulmonologist of our institute. He was diagnosed with severe calcified aortic stenosis during this admission with a critical aortic valve area of 0.35 cm2 (normal area > 2 cm2) with a high gradient of 82/60 across the valve. He was unfit for open heart valve surgery due to his advanced age and frailty. The TAVI procedure is a non-surgical alternative for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are ineligible for open heart surgery. With the help of teamwork with Dr. Sunil Karna, an experienced cardiac anaesthetic team and other trained cath lab staff, the complex cardiac catheter intervention was done successfully with conscious sedation. The patient was awake and alert during the procedure " said Dr Pujara.

 

The patient's son, a Mumbai-based gynecologist, was fully satisfied with counselling provided by our cardiologist Dr. Kushal Pujara before undergoing treatment. He had full trust in our cardiac centre (despite explaining the high risks associated with the procedure) and had given the green signal to go ahead with the best possible option of TAVI for his father for a better long-term outcome, even at this age.