Hyderabad: Using a diamond cutting blade inside a blocked artery and making way for the blood to flow to the heart is called Rotational Atherectomy which was performed for the first time in the Osmania General Hospital on a 76-year-old patient, Syed K from Kushiguda, Hyderabad. Mr Syed was admitted to the hospital with severe blockage in a coronary artery. This procedure was tried on him because by-pass surgery was not possible due to his advanced age.
The procedure is very costly as the diamond cutting blade is used to drill into the artery and then, after a small insertion is done, the plaque in the coronary arteries is grinded up and way cleared for increased blood flow to the heart.
The technique is complex. The first major risk is extensive bleeding, heart attack or damage to the artery. The operation was, however, performed successfully at the OGH by professor of cardiology Dr Syed Imamuddin and his team.
The superintendent of OGH, Dr G V S Moorthy, said, “These procedures are usually performed in corporate hospitals as the equipment for this is very costly. But we have performed it free of cost. The patient is stable and the results have been encouraging.”
The procedure in private hospitals costs between Rs 5 lakhs and Rs 7 lakhs.
