A very sophisticated yet short duration heart valve implant procedure was successfully performed on a 74-year-old lady Mrs. S.L. from Vikarabad, suffering from severe Aortic valve stenosis, at the Virinchi Hospital. The procedure was performed five days ago by Dr Saratchandra, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Virinchi Hospital, using the novel HYDRA Aortic Valve, for the first time in Hyderabad. The patient has recovered well and has since been discharged. The Aortic Valve has the critical function of letting blood flow from the heart to other parts of the body.
The indigenously developed heart valve implant – HYDRA Aortic Valve, has multiple benefits and was recently approved for patient usage. The device is flexible, hence can seamlessly track along tortuous and stiff vessels, especially in the aged. Trans Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), which uses this implant, is usually performed on aged patients whose arteries are rigid and tortuous and flexibility assumes great significance.
The implant is retractable, a salient feature, considering the opportunity to appropriately redeploy in instances of less than ideal placement. Above all it is priced half of that of imported devices and will be a great relief for Indian patients, who struggle to meet the high medical costs. The device is gaining tremendous popularity abroad too due to its advanced technology and cost advantage. It has already been given the CE mark and is being used in European countries.
This new device is both medical fraternity and patients friendly, has several advanced features making it the prime option for TAVR. Being Indian made and less expensive are amongst the innumerable advantages it presents, says Dr Saratchandra.
Mrs. S.L. had a prior history of a heart attack four months ago. She underwent an emergency angioplasty at Virinchi Hospital and recovered well from it. However, she was also diagnosed as having Aortic valve stenosis due to severe narrowing of the valve, with corresponding symptoms and was advised to undergo TAVR procedure, 3 months later.
Explaining her condition Dr Saratchandra said “this is a critical heart condition in which one of the main valves of the heart that helps maintain the unidirectional flow of the blood to the body, becomes stiff and hampers functioning in full capacity. If left untreated this condition can result in recurrent loss of consciousness, heart failure, stroke and sudden death.”
With the other long-term health conditions of earlier heart attack and hypertension, open-heart surgery is associated with high risk for the patient at her advanced age. Considering these variables, the team at Virinchi Hospital quickly decided to adopt the more novel procedure of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).
Virinchi Hospital houses one of the latest high-end flat-panel catheter laboratory (cath-lab in short) in Hyderabad and the technology-enabled the team to successfully implant the newly launched HYDRA Valve in the patient.
The procedure was planned and done by a team led by Dr Saratchandra and included Interventional Cardiologists Dr Deepak Saha and Dr Summet Sinha, Dr Avinash Dal, Cardiac Surgeon and Dr Muralidhar Joshi, HOD (Anesthesia), along with the entire ‘Heart Team’ of the Hospital. This procedure is the first HYDRA Valve implant in Hyderabad.
Dr Avinash Dal said, patients with high risk especially the aged patients, patients with other comorbidities, lung problems, weak heart etc., performing open-heart surgery on them may be risky, their recovery could be jeopardized and for such patients doing a minimally invasive procedure with a short duration on the heart-lung machine is much more beneficial. This procedure is a major milestone in cardiac care, the survival rate of patients through this is up to 99% and is better than surgery for high-risk patients.
Dr Deepak Saha said these patients after undergoing TAVR procedure can lead their normal life, resume all their routine activities in a few days, this particular is doing well and already started walking and was discharged yesterday. This procedure is going to transform cardiac care and will immensely benefit patients.
Until a few years ago there were only two companies globally who were manufacturing TAVR implants. However, with estimates of over a significant percentage of heart patients in the Indian population to be needing an aortic valve implant, India based medical device companies like SMT (Sahajanand Medical Technologies) are on the forefront of such cutting edge and outcome-based medical device manufacturing.
With over a million patient implants, SMT is a trusted name for manufacturing drug-eluting coronary stents for over 20 years now. HYDRA is one of the latest implant introductions of the company and is approved by regulatory bodies of India, DCGI and is CE approved for use in Europe. Hydra comes with the complete clinical benefits of an internationally produced implant along with the cost advantage to the Indian population.
“In India, most of the medical expenses are paid out of pocket by the family. Critical conditions like these come suddenly and usually leave the family in emotional and financial stress. With the use of technologies like Hydra Valve System, some part of the anxiety can be minimized as these new generation implants allow the family to take care of the ailment while keeping the quality aspect intact.
At Virinchi Hospital, we are continuously trying to maintain standards in medical care for our patients. We will continue to provide world-class services and facilities while keeping a keen eye on evidence-based medicine” added Dr Saratchandra.