Doctors at the Belagavi-based Arihant Hospital saved the life of a seven-month pregnant woman by conducting a complicated heart surgery.
The triple bypass or Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery on the 36-year-old woman saved her life. The hospital has said that this is the first such recorded case in the world.
A team led by Chief Cardiac Surgeon M.D. Dixit conducted the total arterial triple vessel coronary bypass surgery on the woman who was in the final trimester of pregnancy.
It was successfully conducted on January 1. The woman has recovered and was discharged a week later. She is now looking forward to a hassle-free delivery, doctors said.
“It is a complicated surgery and is rarely attempted elsewhere. It was skillfully handled by our experts,” said a press release from the hospital.
The patient’s family members approached the hospital after she developed some symptoms. Doctors found that she was suffering from calcified triple vessel disease and hypercholesterolemia with cholesterol levels more than 700 mg/dl.
In such patients, the aorta is profoundly thickened with multiple cholesterol deposits which makes conventional CABG nearly impossible. The surgeons ruled that coronary angioplasty was not feasible owing to risks associated with radiation.
Dr. Dixit’s team decided on a total arterial revascularization using LIMA-RIMA Y technique for three grafts.
The team included Amrut Nerlikar, Abhishek Joshi, Nikhil Dixit, Prashant M.B., Avinash Londhe and Soubhagya Bhat.
Dr. Dixit said that the challenges included balancing the health and well-being of both the mother and the unborn child and the potential risk to the developing foetus.
The choice of antibiotics, painkillers, medications and investigations was also limited. The surgical approach and timing were also important. However, the team managed all this and ensured the safety of the woman and the yet-to-be-born child, he said.
The hospital management has congratulated the team.
