In SGPGI’s first robotic heart surgery, doctors remove malignant tumour from patient’s thymus gland

In the first robotic heart surgery performed at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) a few days ago, doctors removed a malignant

In the first robotic heart surgery performed at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) a few days ago, doctors removed a malignant tumour from a patient’s thymus gland, which is located just above the heart. The surgery was minimally invasive and the patient was discharged in a fit state on Monday, said doctors.

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The team of doctors that performed the operation was led by Dr SK Agarwal and Dr Amit Agarwal. “The tumour was located just above the heart. Any cut there could have resulted in death,” said Dr Agarwal.

Doctors said that 52-year-old Jai Kumar was suffering from myasthenia gravis (a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in skeletal muscles).

“Thymectomy is an option of treatment,” said Dr Agarwal. “It is a surgical procedure to remove the thymus gland, located under the breastbone. The gland is important for the production and maturation of immune cells. Doctors believe it plays an important role in producing antibodies, which can mistakenly attack the muscle-nerve connections in some people, resulting in myasthenia gravis,” he said.

Dr Agarwal said that robotic surgery helped the team perform the procedure by creating just three holes.

“There is negligible blood loss in this operation and the patient can be discharged in much less time when compared to the conventional open heart surgery. It also saves a lot of money for the patient,” he said.

Doctors said that the PGI’s cardiology department was now well equipped to perform complex heart surgeries.