66-yr woman undergoes transcatheter mitral valve replacement at Panchkula hospital

Chandigarh, September 2: Doctors at Paras Health, Panchkula performed a minimally invasive procedure using the transcatheter technique on a 66-year-old woman in just 45 minutes.

Dr H.K. Bali chairman cardiac sciences at Paras Health Panchkula said,” This is the first case of transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) in tricity private hospitals and only a handful of centers in the country are performing TMVR currently”.

The woman came to the emergency department, complaining of progressively increasing shortness of breath and chest pain. At admission, she was diagnosed with heart failure.
The woman who had rheumatic heart disease also underwent mitral valve replacement 12 years ago.

“She had a bioprosthetic valve (tissue valve) at the time of surgery. After 12-years of surgery, she had bioprosthetic valve degeneration that led to heart failure, said Dr Bali.
He further said that the degenerated valve was causing severe mitral regurgitation (leaking) and mitral stenosis (narrowing of valve). The patient's condition worsened due to respiratory problems (pulmonary edema) and pulmonary hypertension.

The patient's valve could be replaced without open heart surgery with interventional technique.

This is an advanced technique that implants a valve in the mitral valve without opening the heart and is called transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR), informed Dr Bali.
The procedure was carried out from the groin of the patient successfully. The results of the procedure were optimal with normal functioning of the valve with no residual leaking and no restriction of opening of the valve. Within 2 days post procedure, the patient showed signs of improvement and was discharged in a stable condition with appropriate counselling and medication.

Meanwhile, structural heart team of Paras Health including Dr Bali, Dr. (Maj Gen) Naveen Aggarwal and Dr. Arvind Kaul along with cardiac anaesthetists and cardiac surgeons have done the largest number of transcatheter valve replacements like Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in this region.