Man with 5 failed stents get successful heart surgery in CMC

Ludhiana, June 30, 2014: Flt Lt (retd) Jasmail Singh  – a 55 year old Air Force retiree  residing in Passi Nagar , Pakhowal Road  Ludhiana – was in a bit of a trouble . He had heart disease due to blockage of his heart arteries . He had earlier undergone stenting of 2 arteries at another hospital in Punjab. However these blocked in a short time. He underwent another stenting in another Institute where another 3 stents were inserted.

Very soon he started getting chest pain again. His heart functioning also get laboured. He was investigated where it was found that all his stents had blocked and he was advised emergency surgery to save his life  . He was immediately referred to Dr Harinder Singh Bedi – Head of Cardio Vascular and Thoracic Surgery - at Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana.  Dr Bedi realised that this was a particularly major problem as the stents would have damaged the heart arteries making grafting difficult. Also the blockage had cut off blood supply to the heart leading to damage.  Dr Bedi has treated such cases in Australia. As per available literature operating on such cases is technically difficult as it has been shown that the stent causes damage and fibrosis to a long length of the artery. On investigation it has found that the heart was stuck to its covering and not moving well. It was also realised that there could be a rapid deterioration if timely surgery was not done.

Under the expert supervision of the Cardiac Anaesthesia team – Dr.Melchi and Dr. N Dua – anesthesia was given. An artificial heart support machine was inserted as the heart was very weak.  The stuck heart was gently freed and a complicated bypass done .The heart bounced back to normal immediately after the surgery .According to the CTVS Heart Team Jasmail Singh should be able to now perform all his regular activities with ease .The other members of the cardiac team involved in this marathon surgery were Dr A Joseph, Dr.Navjot ,Dr.Sam, Dr.Nitish, Dr.Abin and Dr.Nidhi .

Dr.Bedi told that stents are an important aspect of therapy of heart disease. However sometimes they can fail – the chances increase with the number of stents used. Because of this the International Heart Associations do not recommend using multiple stents .

Dr Abraham G Thomas – Director of CMC & H – emphasised that complex surgeries are being done successfully in CMC. This is possible because of the excellent infrastructure and faculty of CMC. He told that DrBedi has one of the largest experiences of bypass surgery after stenting in India – especially those where a heart attack is also present. He said that CMC is committed to bring International level cardiac care to the doorsteps of the people of this region.