MHF team performs 'double switch' procedure

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JULY 18. Doctors at the Manipal Heart Foundation (MHF) here accomplished a difficult feat on Wednesday.

A team led by Dr. Srivyas, cardio-thoracic surgeon at the hospital, performed a "Double Switch" procedure on 14-year-old Mazar Abbas who was suffering from "congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries", a technically complex operation reportedly performed for the first time in Karnataka and, perhaps, in South India, according to the hospital authorities.

In this condition, the lower chambers (ventricles) are inter- changed, so Mazar had the right ventricle in place of the left and the left ventricle in place of the right. Due to this, the child suffered from breathlessness on exertion, and cyanosis (bluish discolouration of the body). There was also an abnormal communication between the two ventricles, which allowed the mixing of pure and impure blood.

After the operation, which took nearly nine hours to perform, the patient is now free from these symptoms.

According to a hospital press release, only few centres in the world perform this procedure. In India, only the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, in Delhi has published data on this procedure.

The "Homograft" (cadaveric artery with valve) used for the surgery was donated by the "Brain Bank" established by Dr. Shanker at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). The Midtown Rotary Club of Bangalore provided financial help to perform the operation.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : IIMB signs MoU with IRDA
Next     : Tax on sari, bread and bun withdrawn