Doctors at the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memoria Hospital have performed a rare and extremely complex heart operation on a 23-year-old woman who had both a blood related as well as a rare heart disease.
Doctors at the Heart, Chest and Vascular Surgery Department conducted the surgery on the unnamed patient who was a sickling patient (blood related disease) and also suffered from Ebstein Anomaly, a rare congenital heart disease.
Department Head Dr. Krishna Kant Sahu said Ebstein Anomaly is a rare heart defect that is present at birth (congenital). This was the second such operation within six months but this one was more critical.
Generally, the disease is found in one in two million congenital heart patients. Generally, 13 percent of newborns die by birth while 18 percent die by the age of 10. The patient’s survival is usually up to 18 to 20 years, he said.
He added that due to sickling, there is a need for frequent blood transfusions.
The Bovine tissue valve was implanted in the patient's heart through open heart surgery. As the heart valve does not function due to lack of oxygen in blood, the patient’s body turns blue. It was rectified after operation.
The biggest challenge was to control the body temperature of patients due to shortage of blood.
The patient is on the recovery path, said Dr Sahu.