Date:02/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/02/stories/2008120253990400.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Angioplasty presented live at London meet

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: A complex angioplasty procedure done on a 34-year-old patient with multiple blocks in the left main vessel of the heart at the PRS Hospital at Karamana here was shown live at the second Indo European Revascularisation Conference held in London on November 27 and 28.

The PRS Hospital was one among the three institutions chosen from the country — the other two being Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai and Apollo Hospital, Delhi — to present procedures live at the prestigious conference.

The patient, Paul of Thodupuzha, had three major blocks in the left main coronary artery at the junction where it splits into three vessels.

The doctors, led by N. Prathap Kumar, chief interventional cardiologist at PRS Hospital, succeeded in removing the blocks with an angioplasty.

This kind of blocks in the main artery can cause sudden death. A bypass surgery used to be the best option in such cases.

However, a skilfully done left main angioplasty, using good quality stents, can give good long-term results.

There is no need to put the patient on anaesthesia or to open the chest. Also, there is lesser trauma for the patient and the length of hospital stay can be reduced.

The procedure was done free of cost for the patient, the PRS Hospital authorities said.

The PRS Hospital has already done complicated angioplasty procedures in some 32 cases where the left main artery had been blocked.