E-Paper
Rare lung procedure performed in Kashmir hospital
A group of doctors at a Kashmir hospital performed a rare and complicated lung procedure for the treatment of a rare lung disease giving a new lease of life to a 50-year-old patient
: A group of doctors in Kashmir on Saturday performed a rare and complicated lung procedure for the treatment of a rare lung disease giving a new lease of life to a 50-year-old patient.
The team of some 20 doctors and paramedics performed whole lung lavage (WLL) – a process to wash out lungs – at the Chest Diseases(CD) Hospital of Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, taking some three hours to clean the lungs of the patient using 15 litres of sterile normal saline.
The patient was suffering from shortness of breath and low oxygen saturation from the past one month owing to the accumulation of milk like proteinaceous material in the lung sacs affecting the gas exchange.
“The therapeutic procedure whole lung lavage has been performed first time ever in Jammu and Kashmir union territory for the management of a rare lung disease,” said Dr Mohammad Salim Khan, official spokesperson of GMC, Srinagar.
The procedure was performed by the combined effort from the departments of pulmonary medicine and anaesthesia of GMC, Srinagar.
“Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare lung disorder with an estimated prevalence of 0.2 -0.6 cases per 100000 individuals. The disease is characterised by accumulation of milk like proteinaceous material in the lung sacs affecting gas exchange and resulting in hypoxemia (low oxygen saturation),” Khan said.
“The procedure was successfully performed over three hours using 15 litres of sterile normal saline (to wash out the lung) in the theatre of CD hospital,” he said.
