First Ever Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Heart Surgery in Andhra Pradesh

In a major development on healthcare front, doctors at Ramesh hospitals performed a critical heart surgery through minimal invasive procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). This minimal invasive procedure has been followed to replace the damaged aortic valve. This is first time for the doctors in AP to switch to the revolutionary surgery procedure to save a life of an elderly patient. Giving the details at a press conference, Dr Pothineni Ramesh Babu, chief cardiologist and managing director of Ramesh hospitals, said that TAVR is particularly helpful to handle heat ailments among the patients who cannot tolerate surgery. “In our case the patient is a 78-year-old, who has already been operated for open heart bypass surgery and gall bladder in the past. We thought it is better to go for TAVR procedure to save his life,” said Dr Ramesh Babu.

Through femoral artery, a catheter is sent and guided to the damaged aortic valve where the catheter delivers a new valve to take up the job of the damaged valve. People of ages 70 and above are easily prone to conditions where valves get clogged resulting in decreased heart pumping which in-turn cause damage to lungs and kidneys, he said, adding that this is the primary reason why the surgical risk score is high in this age group. “Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement is the best solution for them,” said Dr Ramesh. Dr Paravataneni Naga Sri Haritha, Sr Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Ramesh Hospitals, Guntur, along with her team of Cardiologists and Anesthesiologists has successfully done this procedure. – TOI