Seven abnormalities corrected in rare heart surgery

In a rare hybrid surgical procedure, doctors at a city-based private hospital corrected simultaneously seven abnormalities in the heart of a 54-year-old man.

According to V.V. Bashi, who led the doctors' team, local resident Narayanasamy came to MIOT Hospitals recently with chest pain, breathlessness and palpitation and was in a "very serious condition".

An angiogram showed seven abnormalities, including a large hole in ventricular septum (dividing partition between two tissues), a large hole in atrial septum, enlarged muscle on the heart's right side, absent pulmonary valve with severe leak, large aneurysm (widening of artery) and calcification and leak in the aortic valve, he said.

All the abnormalities were corrected in a sugery, done earlier this month, that lasted for about seven hours, he said, adding that the operation was first of its kind in the world. "The patient's heart was stopped for three hours through a device to perform the surgery," he said.

The patient had recovered well and would be discharged on Friday, the doctor said.