Friday, 12 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) claimed to have successfully performed heart surgery on an eight-month pregnant woman. The doctors, privy to the details of the case, said that after Rabia Devi, who was eight months pregnant, had been brought to the hospital with acute trouble of breathlessness, the cardiologist had examined her and diagnosed severe mitral stenosis, narrowing of valve. They further said that though going for a surgery was a medical imperative it was risky, given the pregnancy of the patient. Two options were open to them- the balloon method or open heart surgery- and the operation needed to be conducted with utmost carefulness and dexterity to save the lives of the mother and the unborn baby. Placed in this situation, the doctors decided to perform Balloon Mitral Valvotomy, a procedure that takes one hour without any incisions or application of anaesthesia. As the woman felt relieved after the surgery, a caesarean operation was conducted.
Speaking on the case, a cardiologist Dr Amar Upadhyay said that pregnancy had an impact on the mother’s heart. “The foetus’s anatomical structure that can be seen through fluoroscopy also undergoes significant changes. Therefore, the procedure had to be executed swiftly to minimise physiological strain on the mother and potential radiation effects on the baby,” he said.
He further said the surgery, performed by the medical professionals at the Doon Hospital, marks the first of its kind in Uttarakhand.
