Apollo Excelcare Hospital performs East India's first rare cardiac surgery (Ozaki)

Guwahati, Apr 12: In its continuing pursuit of excellence in healthcare, Apollo Excelcare Hospital recently performed a very rare and complex cardiac surgery, setting a new benchmark in healthcare in the region.

The complex valve repair surgery using the Ozaki procedure was performed by the CTVS team of Apollo Excelcare Hospital, led by Dr. Manuj Saikia and Dr. Intekhab Alam, with support from the team of Anaesthetists comprising Dr. Bibhash Bhagawati, Dr. Ajoy Kumar Deka, Dr. Nabarup Dutta Baruah, and Perfusionist Sayan Biswas, along with a host of dedicated nursing staff from CTVS OT and ICU. This is the first instance of such a case being performed in entire Eastern India.

A 19-year-old girl from Dibrugarh, Assam, has been suffering from breathing problems, palpitations, and extreme chest discomfort for the past six months. Upon thorough evaluation, she was diagnosed with a restricted opening of the left-sided valve in the heart, known as the Aortic Valve. This condition is known as Severe Aortic Stenosis, which, if left untreated for long, leads to heart failure and makes it impossible to lead a normal life and perform normal routine activities.

Dr. Manuj Kumar Saikia, the Chief Cardiac Surgeon, said, "Traditionally, in such conditions, the native diseased valve is excised and a mechanical valve is implanted and these patients have to take blood thinners all throughout their lives. As the patient is young and still unmarried, we successfully performed the Ozaki Procedure for the patient. In this procedure, the valve was repaired using the patient's own tissue (pericardium). Because of this, the patient need not take blood thinners life long. All the associated risks with taking such blood thinners, such as life-threatening bleeding and possible complications during pregnancy, teratogenicity in the child, are now offset due to this novel procedure."

According to Dr. Intekhab Alam, the patient was stable and recovery after surgery has been good and is due for discharge.