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In a first for North India, PGI, Chandigarh performs MitraClip intervention on 76-year-old
Dr Rajesh Vijayvergiya and his team performed the operation on a 76-year-old man, who had heart failure due to low heart pumping and a mitral valve leak
In a first of its kind procedure in northern India, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’s (PGIMER) department of cardiology performed a successful MitraClip intervention on an elderly man to fix his heart valve.
Dr Rajesh Vijayvergiya and his team performed the operation on a 76-year-old man, who had heart failure due to low heart pumping and a mitral valve leak. The patient was successfully treated by a percutaneous MitraClip device implantation, placed at the mitral valve position in the heart, through the groin.
MitraClip is basically a minimally invasive procedure, in which a clip is placed across the leaking mitral valve to prevent the backflow of the blood.
“The procedure was most challenging and complex as it required high precision and expertise to clip the leaking mitral valve leaflets. A routine surgical repair of the leaking mitral valve in a patient with a weakened heart (ejection fraction 20%) is a high-risk surgical case. Percutaneous MitraClip therapy is a safe and effective alternative operation in selected patients, who are at high risk for open surgical procedure”, Vijayvergiya said, adding that it is a unique and innovative therapy that is available at limited tertiary care centres in India.
He said percutaneous valve replacement therapy for stenosed/narrowed heart valves of various types has routinely been performed at the department in the last two to three years, while MitraClip is a new addition in the armamentarium for the treatment of heart valves.
“All these advanced high-quality, innovative therapies are readily available and accessible at an affordable price at PGIMER,” he added.
