REASI: Dr Nikhil Mahajan along with his team successfully performed rare Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) in an elderly male with severe symptomatic Aortic Stenosis at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Narayana Hospital, Kakryal, Katra.
The patient was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of low cardiac output including exertional chest pain, fainting and breathlessness. However, he was fully recovered after the surgery. Talking about the disease, Dr Nikhil Mahajan said “Aortic Stenosis is a progressive disease in which the valve leaflets become stiff reducing their ability to fully open and close. When this happens, heart must work harder to push blood through the aortic valve and to the body.
Such patients experience exertional shortness of breath, fainting, or chest pain. Once Aortic Stenosis becomes severe, it is important to treat”. He further added that “The disease cannot be fixed with medication alone and will continue to get worse until you treat it. Valve replacement is the only effective treatment option. In conventional Surgical Aortic valve replacement, the surgeon removes the damaged valve and replaces it with a mechanical valve or biological valve in open heart surgery.” Explaining the TAVR procedure, he said “TAVR is a less invasive way to replace Aortic valve.
The TAVR or TAVI procedures are done through thigh like a normal coronary angiogram that leave all the chest bones in place. Patient spends less time in the hospital with minimal complication rates after TAVR compared to surgical valve replacement”. M M Mathavan, Facility Director at SMVD Narayana Super Specialty Hospital said that “One of the rarest of the rare surgeries has been performed at our hospital and it is now a myth that people have to travel to Metro cities in India to avail world class treatment.
SMVDNH is equipped with state of the art medical equipments and well qualified expert doctors to deal with any kind of medical/surgical emergency”. He said that SMVDNH has emerged as a preferred tertiary healthcare centre in North India.
