First transcatheter heart valve replacement surgery performed in India: Doctors

Doctors at the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here claimed to have performed India's first transcatheter aortic valve replacement surgery on a patient who underwent a failed valve surgery in the past.

The team comprising of R.K. Jain, Director and HoD of Cardiology and T.N.C. Padmanabhan, senior interventional cardiologist, along with other experts have successfully performed the surgical procedure on a 69-year-old female patient.

Geeta Agarwal, who is from Hingoli district of Maharashtra, has recovered swiftly and has resumed her daily life, said the doctors on Sunday.

According to Jain, the patient underwent an open-heart surgery in the past but had developed severe breathlessness and chest pain grossly limiting her daily activities. An obese person with high blood pressure, the patient had to be treated with utmost care.

"On examining the patient's condition, it was reported that she was suffering from severe blockage of an aortic valve. Re-doing open-heart surgery was laced with high risk, hence the team decided on the alternative method of replacing the diseased valve through groin vessel without the need for a high risk open heart surgery," he said.

The patient underwent a surgical procedure with Meril MyVal (Indian Valve) on May 19 and since is doing fine. This procedure has been done for the first time on Indian soil and can be considered a promising advancement to address patients' facing high risk surgeries, claimed the hospital.