13 April,2011 06:54 AM IST | | PRIYANKA VORA
Y-shaped imported equipment gives cardiac patient a new lease of life
Arvind Kadam (48), who works as a peon in a small firm in Worli, has never been to France, but a customised Y-shaped stent a tube that opens up blocked heart vessels imported from the country has given him a new lease of life.
Moreover, the equipment helped doctors at Jupiter hospital, Thane, became the first in the country to provide treatment for critical blockages like the one Kadam was suffering from. On February 23, Kadam suffered a heart attack while he was vacationing in his village in Chiplun.
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"The local doctor there gave me medications (blood thinners) and asked me to go to a tertiary hospital. So I returned to Thane and my family members rushed me to Jupiter hospital," said Kadam.
Doctors immediately performed an angiography on Kadam, which revealed that he was suffering from a critical blockage wherein a major artery and its side branch were blocked.
"Conventionally in such blockages, we have to use two separate stents and install them by using a 'Kissing Balloon' technique where there are chances of development of re-blockages. Usually, cardiologists prefer to put a single stent in a relatively more important vessel and leave the side branch unattended.
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In Kadam's case, we did not want to opt for a by-pass as it was too premature for him and the groin arteries in the leg were not healthy enough to perform an angioplasty. So we decided to go through radial artery in the hand, using a Y-shaped stent," said Dr Vijay Surase, a cardiologist at Jupiter Hospital, Thane.
He added, "It is for the first time that such an operation has been successfully done in India. It is quite challenging to insert a bulky assembly though the radial artery. The case has been accepted for presentation by two international conferences, scheduled for May and September at France and Washington, respectively."
The Kadams may not understand the technicality involved in his operation, but they were delighted to see him walking out of the operation theater in just 30 minutes. "He took rest at home for a month and then joined work," said his wife, Ashwini.
"Usually in cases where the patients groin vessels are not fit to perform an angioplasty we have to opt for radial artery route. With this innovative technique a less invasive angioplasty is successfully possible in some subsets, particularly young individuals," added Dr Surase.
Doing a by-pass at 40 years of age, we are looking at another by-pass or angioplasty in a decade or more, he added.
Expert speak
Dr A B Mehta, cardiologist, Jaslok hospital, said, "Bifurcation stenting technique is in the evolving stage giving good results. We have performed Y-shaped stenting though the leg arteries, which give good results. Doing the same surgery though the radial artery is quite innovative and challenging and is first of its kind."
Senior cardiologist, Dr Samuel Mathew, Lilavati hospital, said, "The conventional stenting procedure by the Kissing balloon technique helps to relive the bifurcation blockages. Using such customized stent does not add much to the already available technique."
