In a rare surgery, doctors at a city hospital successfully implanted a pacemaker on a 100-year-old woman.
The patient, Phoolwati Gaharwar, had a fall from her bed and was taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. Tests showed that there were no external injuries but also revealed that one of the wires in the heart was disconnected.
"Phoolwati was then referred to Fortis Escorts by the attending doctor who predicted only a 50 per cent chance of her survival," Dr Aparna Jaswal, Senior Consultant, Electrophysiology in Fortis Escorts Heart Institute told The Pioneer.
Dr Jaswal said, "For patients above 100 years. OTs should be preplanned. Within 20-30 minutes, surgery should be conducted without wasting a single minute."
"Implants of the pacemaker as a procedure is our specialised area and therefore, poses little challenge for us. What was challenging in this patient's case was her advanced age. And what helped in her case is that despite her age she had no co-morbidities to complicate the case further,” he said.
We implanted a single chamber pacemaker and she is back on her feet and fine, said Dr Jaswal.