Mohali man becomes oldest country’s patient to underwent TAVR: Dr. Puneet

Mohali man becomes oldest country’s patient to underwent TAVR: Dr. Puneet

Harshabab Sidhu
Nabaz-e-Punjab, Mohali, July 18:
A 94-year-old man of Mohali underwent TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement) and became the oldest patient in India to have successfully endured the surgery. This has been claimed by Dr Puneet K Verma, Director and Chief Interventional Cardiologist of Mohali, who performed the surgery on June 19 this year.
Shocking, Dr Puneet said the patient, HS Dhillon, a resident of Sector 70, is so active that he couldn’t wait anymore to play golf again, which is his passion.
Sharing patient’s medical history, Dr Puneet said he underwent a spinal surgery in 2005 when he was threatened by a disease that could make him bed-ridden. He staged a remarkable recovery to attain a good physical health over the next 6 months.
Five years later in 2011, he developed a heart attack for which he underwent stent placement in his coronary artery. He did well for next four years, when he started developing rhythm disturbance of the heart with an episode of a minor heart attack that was handled with placement of coronary stents. At that time he was considered a high risk case for a bypass surgery.
Then in 2016, the electrical currents of his heart declined to a level that he had to be implanted a permanent pacemaker.
Two months ago, at the age of 94, the patient developed signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure and severe aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve, the outlet valve of the main pumping chamber of the heart).
“A critically narrowed valve can lead to debilitating symptoms ranging from exertional chest pain, dizziness, loss of consciousness, worsening breathlessness, ultimately leading to heart failure. He was stabilized with intensive care treatment and was advised to undergo aortic valve replacement. Being an elderly patient, the risks of performing valve replacement surgery were very high,” Dr Puneet said.
Accordingly, the consent to perform TAVR was obtained and the procedure was carried out successfully on June 19 in the cardiac catheterization lab of ACE Heart & Vascular Institute in Sector 69, Mohali by Dr Puneet K Verma and his team of doctors, nurses and technicians.
As per the doctor, no general anesthesia was administered and the patient made an extraordinary recovery within 24 hours of his surgery. He was discharged after four days of stay in the hospital.
The patient’s family was counselled on the risks and benefits of the surgery and TAVR, and that no patient in India had undergone this procedure at this age, said Dr Puneet.
“The patient was very keen to get back to his physically active lifestyle and wished to undertake treatment that would help fulfill his desire. He is eager to get back to the golf course,” said the doctor.
The 94-year-old patient, HS Dhillon said, “I am totally fine now. After the surgery, I had to walk with the support of a stick. But from last two days, I can walk on my own. I saw a speedy recovery. I will continue golf after the summers and I am excited for it.”
TAVI or TAVR (Trans-catheter aortic valve implantation or replacement):
As per Dr Puneet, in this technique, the artificial heart valve is navigated to the site of implantation through an introducer sheath, commonly from the artery of the groin. The entire process lasts about an hour, sometimes more and in majority of patients does not need general anesthesia. After the procedure, the hole in the groin artery is closed with internal sutures and patients are discharged in 3-5 days.