Mumbai hospital uses cow’s heart valve to save woman’s life

A 52-year-old woman suffering from a severely damaged heart valve was successfully treated with a replacement surgery and implanted with a cow’s pericardial valve at a Mumbai hospital.

A 52-year-old woman’s damaged heart valve was successfully replaced with a cow’s pericardial valve at a Mumbai hospital.

An overstretched and weak aorta can burst, causing serious bleeding and leading to death. (Shutterstock/Representative image)

Amita Patki was diagnosed with aortic aneurysm -- enlargement of the aorta.

An aneurysm is a bulge or “ballooning” in the wall of an artery, which carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

An overstretched and weak aorta can burst, causing serious bleeding and leading to death.

A 2D Echocardiogram -- also known as echo test -- revealed to the doctors at Nanavati super speciality hospital that the valve damage was in an advanced stage.

“We performed a surgery on her and replaced the defunct valve with a biological bovine pericardial valve,” said Hemant Pathare, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon .

“The patient was also diagnosed with ascension in her aorta up to the base. The ascending aorta was also replaced along with a part of the arch of aorta,” Pathare added.