Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 9: In a first-of-its kind surgery, a team of experts, led by cardiologist Dr Paramdeep Singh Sandhu, in Fortis Hospital, Ludhiana, performed a complex heart surgery to implant a sophisticated device in a 47-year-old man.
Known as a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D), an MRI-compatible device, this new-generation instrument synchronizes the muscles of the heart, in case of weak pumping of heart. This could prevent future heart failures, sudden cardiac deaths, and give patients an overall better quality of life than previously had.
The surgery lasted about two hours, and it was a technically challenging procedure. Besides the actual implanting, the programming of the device is the most important, and as doctors, we need to get this right. It is implanted on the left side of the heart, just below the collar bone. The device itself does not weigh more than 80 grams. For this surgery the cut made is not more than 3 cm long and the patient can go home in three days time. Recovery is quick, and people get back to their regular lives, without the feeling of breathlessness and fatigue. The wound heals in about two weeks, and the procedure is done under local anesthesia, says Dr Sandhu.
We have been doing this surgery in Punjab for a couple of months now, and are the only hospital that has this expertise, says Dr Sandhu.
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