By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 13 Dec: A 53 year old woman underwent successful open heart surgery for a complicated and extremely rare birth defect at Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital, here. In this rare congenital defect of the heart, there was formation of a pipe like connection between the left Circumflex Coronary Artery, the left Superior Vena Cava and the Coronary Sinus which resulted in abnormal blood flow in the body. In Medical Science, this problem is called ‘Left Circumflex Coronary Artery to Left Superior Vena Cava and Coronary Sinus Fistula’.
This led to the heart enlarging to double the normal size. The Circumflex Artery and the Coronary Sinus enlarged almost ten times the normal size. The Tricuspid Valve located in between the right chambers of the heart was stretched by the large amount of the blood passing across it and the valve started to leak back blood. The lungs were over-distended by the flowing blood and were not able to function properly. All these changes started after birth and had gradually deteriorated over the years. The patient developed progressively worsening breathing difficulty, increased heart beat, pain in the chest, swelling of the whole body, restlessness, etc., over the last many years. The patient was investigated in the Cardiology Department of Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital for the first time in 2017. Subsequently, the diagnosis of the rare congenital defect was made. However, the patient opted for medical management at that time instead of surgical correction. In spite of all medicines, the symptoms continued to worsen over the years. Eventually, when she could not bear it anymore she agreed for the surgical correction of the congenital defect.
The purpose of the operation was to correct the abnormal circulation of blood in heart and to repair the damaged Tricuspid valve. Eventually, she underwent 6 hour long open heart surgery. Head of the CTVS Department Dr Ashok Kumar Jayant and his surgical team corrected the abnormal pathway and blood circulation. The tricuspid valve was also repaired. After the surgery, the patient was nursed in the ICU and discharged 9 days after the operation.
Dr Ashok Kumar Jayant, who trained at AIIMS, Delhhi, said, “In my 37 years experience of Cardio-Vascular surgeries, I encountered such an abnormal heart formation for the first time. The credit also goes to the efficient surgical team of CTVS, experienced anesthesiologists Dr Parag and Dr Hariom, Cardiologist Dr Tanuj Bhatia, the staff nurses and ultra-modern infrastructure of Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital.”
