GUWAHATI: In what can be called an achievement for NH Guwahati, a 15-year-old girl was recently successfully operated by a percutaneous technique called BMV by our Cardiologist Dr. Dipankar Das.
The patient, Miss Nayan Moni Gogoi from Lakhimpur, was suffering from RHD/mitral stenosis, which meant narrowing or tightening of one of the valves inside the heart. She had difficulty in breathing on walking and also lying down for more than a year.
Such type of patients is usually treated by valve replacement, which is open-heart surgery.
For the first time in NH-Guwahati, a percutaneous technique called PTMC or BMV (Balloon mitral valvotomy) was successfully performed on the patient and her valve was opened by inflating a balloon at high pressure. The patient had immediate symptomatic relief.
BMV has a better and quicker post-operative recovery and less mortality than in comparison to valve replacement. This procedure is not rare but is not frequently performed in the North-east as it is cubersome and not entirely risk-free. But when performed successfully it is a boon for such type of patients, as it eliminates the requirement of open-heart surgery.