56-yr old woman, a cancer survivor, became the 100th patient to undergo TAVR – had one previous open heart surgery alongside a history of multiple abdominal surgeries
With a focus on patient-centric solutions powered by technology and clinical expertise, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital announced being the 1st Centre in Western India to accomplish 100 TAVR procedures. Mrs. Rekha Singh, a 56-year lady, an ex-school teacher who became the 100th TAVR case, had severe narrowing of one of the heart valves (aortic valve). She had already undergone one-previous open heart valve replacement surgery. She had also recovered recently from cancer and had a history of multiple abdominal surgeries in the past. She was extremely symptomatic because of aortic valve stenosis and couldn’t walk more than 15 steps without shortness of breath.
2D echo revealed that her previous surgical valve, which was implanted nine years back, had become dysfunctional, and she needed another valve replacement. Because of her all the risk factors and severe obesity, second open heart surgery was deemed extremely risky. She underwent a special type of valve-in-valve TAVR (Transcatheter aortic valve replacement) procedure just a week back at Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital. She got a new valve without any cut or stitches, thru just a small 4mm jab from the groin, under local anesthesia!
“This was an extremely challenging case, not only due to the comorbid conditions but also because of her severe obesity (weighing 110 Kgs) and a very close relation of heart coronary arteries to the previous valve.” The old valve had become extremely narrow, making the TAVR procedure even more complex. “It took us three and half hours to complete the procedure, instead of the routine one hour taken for such cases,”
Dr. Maulik Parekh, Head of TAVR and Structural Heart program at the Hospital
