Media Release

Manipal, Aug 22: A 64-year-old woman, who suffered a ventricular septal rupture, a hole formed between the two ventricles, following a heart attack, was treated with a clinically advanced procedure to close the rupture and was discharged recently.

The patient is recovering well. She was admitted to the Cardiology department of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal following a heart attack. After a detailed examination, Dr Ranjan Shetty, HOD Cardiology, found a large hole between the two ventricles, 8-10mm VSR (Ventricular septal rupture).

One of the major complications of acute myocardial infraction is cardiac rapture or the tearing of the heart wall. And the patient can have sudden death in such a complicated condition. But in this patient instead of cardiac rupture, there was ventricular septal rupture.

The treatment for such cases is emergency open heart surgery and pericardial patch closure of septal rupture. The septum is the dividing wall between the right and left side of the heart. The mortality rate in these cases of surgical intervention before three weeks is about 50%.

Dr Ranjan Shetty, head, department of Cardiology, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal and his team decided to use technology to the advantage of the patient and successfully closed the rupture by using a devise made of nitinol mesh. The nitinol mesh was implanted through the femoral artery and vein approach in cardiac catheterization laboratory without an open heart surgery.

Patient was discharged from the hospital within three days of the procedure. The team which performed the surgery consisted of assistant professors Dr Naveen Chandra, Krishnananda Nayak and Umesh Pai.

Dr (Col) M Dayananda Medical superintendent & COO appreciated the good work done by the team for successful completion of the technologically and clinically advanced and complicated procedure in the Cardiology department.