IGMC gives a new lease of life to Dharamsala man

In a first-of-its-kind surgery, a 48-year-old man from Dharamsala got a new lease of life at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) by a team of cardio department doctors through angioplasty.

Ram Prasad from Dharamsala, Kangra, was diagnosed with severe leakage from the aortic valve (AR) and breathlessness while he was undergoing angiography on July 17. He suffered a cardiac as well as respiratory arrest.

He was administered cardiac massage and artificial respiration through endotracheal tube, but the patient failed to respond.
Department of cardiology professor Rajeev Bhardwaj was called for assistance, who again performed angiography to see why the patient got cardiac arrest.

Bhardwaj said the disease of left coronary was usually treated by urgent bypass surgery, but here the patient had cardiac arrest and there was no time for shifting.

Acting promptly, a successful angioplasty and stenting was done during cardiac arrest.

Bhardwaj said, “Angiography revealed that the left main coronary artery had completely blocked and no blood was going into the arteries. About 10 minutes had passed after the cardiac arrest and cardiac message was going on. There was hardly any chance of survival for the patient.”

During the cardiac massage, Bhardwaj did balloon dilation to pass wire into the left coronary artery through completely closed artery.

Making concerted efforts to revive the patient's pulse, a stent was put in the left main coronary artery and within a minute of putting the stent, the heart successfully started beating and blood pressure started rising.

However, the respiration problem continued, which turned normal after an hour and after three or four hours the respiratory support was withdrawn, he added.

The patient regained consciousness the next day and recovered properly within four days, he added.

Bhardwaj was assisted by his team that included Sanjeev Asotra and Rajeev Marwah, both assistant professors, Nirmal Kolte and Ravi Kumar (doctorate of medicine resident doctors), technician Jitender Kaushik, staff nurses Shashi and Nitu.