Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore(VD)

Mangalore, Aug 27: A J Hospital and Research Centre has now brought in a super specialty, Interventional Pediatric Cardiology Department, the first of its kind in Coastal Karnataka.

A good number of children with cardiac ailments from the coastal region were getting referred to cardiac care centres in Bangalore or Chennai. There was no Interventional Pediatric Cardiologist available in the Karnataka coastal region and in many instances the parents either used to delay or forego the treatment because of the distance. In its quest of ever improving the facilities available, A.J. Hospital & Research Centre has brought in the department headed by Dr Prem Alva, MD of FIPC, Consultant Interventional Pediatric Cardiologist.

Dr Prem Alva has done his MBBS from Kasturba Medical College, here, and MD from J J Medical College, Davangere. He has completed three and a half years of fellowship training in pediatric cardiology, both at Madras Medical Mission- India’s first centre for pediatric services, followed by a fellowship in Interventional Pediatric Cardiology at Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore. He also had worked as Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist at Narayana Hrudayalaya.

Dr Alva specializes in diagnosing simple and complex congenital heart diseases by Echocardiography. He has successfully treated many children born with heart diseases by interventional procedures thus avoiding the need for open heart surgery. Babies and children with heart diseases treated by interventions can be done minimizing hospital stay to just one day combined with excellent results.

Some of the cardiac interventional procedures done by Dr Prem Alva are ASD device closure, PDA coil closure, Balloon pulmonary valvotomy, Balloon dilatation of coarctation, Pulmonay artery plasty andCoil closure of aorto-pulmonary collaterals among others.