Fortis Escorts Amritsar successfully performs 1st Mitraclip procedure for Chandigarh, Punjab and J&K region

Chandigarh, November 9, 2022: A team of eminent cardiologists from Fortis Escorts Amritsar under the guidance of Dr Arun Chopra, Director Cardiology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Amritsar successfully performed the first Mitraclip procedure for Chandigarh, Punjab and J&K region on a 82-year-old man. The Mitraclip procedure using the latest G4 device (St Jude Medical, now Abbott) was successfully undertaken by Dr Arun Chopra with the help of Dr Ravinder Singh Rao from RHL, Jaipur and other doctors from Fortis Escorts Amritsar – Dr Deepak Kapila, Dr Arjun Ved Gupta, Dr Maninder Sidhu, Dr Rishi Goenka and Dr Sunila Kapila.

The patient was admitted at Fortis Escorts Amritsar with heart failure and a history of Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic kidney disease. The patient had undergone a CRT device/ pacemaker procedure in 2010 due to dilated cardiomyopathy and the CRT device was later replaced for better control in 2017. Since a few days, he was unable to keep up with his daily activities with increased visits to the hospital. A comprehensive health check-up of the patient through 2-D and 3-D Echo revealed a dilated heart with reduced heart function and heart failure due to mitral valve regurgitation (a heart disease in which the valve between the left heart chambers does not close completely, allowing blood to leak backward across the valve.) The team of doctors at Fortis Escorts Amritsar decided to perform the Mitraclip procedure as the patient was a high risk patient owing to the multiple co-morbidities, progressing condition of heart failure and old age.

Giving details of the minimally-invasive procedure, Dr. Arun Chopra, Director Cardiology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Amritsar said “MitraClip is less invasive than mitral valve surgery and a simpler procedure with minimal risks and shorter length of hospital stay in high-risk patients. The procedure involves doctors accessing the mitral valve with a thin tube (a catheter) that is guided through a vein in the thigh to reach the heart. The two leaflets of the mitral valve are grasped with a small, implantable clip that reduces its opening significantly, thus markedly diminishing the leakage. This improves forward output of the heart and lowers the risk of repeated admissions due to heart failure and mortality. The procedure requires good patient selection and precision of clip placement which is guided by good quality imaging by fluoroscopy and 3D trans oesophageal echo (TEE). The duration of the surgical procedure was 1.5 hours in this particular case. Timely Treatment saved the patient’s life, who continued to deteriorate clinically.”

Dr H P Singh, Director Non- Invasive Cardiology, Fortis Escorts Amritsar said “Fortis Escorts Amristar has the best doctors along with world class infrastructure. We have been pioneers in introducing the latest technology to the patients of Punjab and J&K region so that they don’t have to travel to Delhi or abroad and have accessability to the latest medical technology”

Dr D M Saini, Director, Cardiac Surgery, Fortis Escorts Amritsar said “Successful Mitraclip procedure in critical high risk patients resonates with Fortis Escorts Amritsar’s commitment to provide comprehensive care to all its patients coupled with precision medicine and technology. Severe Mitral Valve Regurgitation requires open heart surgery with hospitalization for 7-10 days. The patient has to undergo severe pain and post operative complications. These problems are accentuated in patients who are old, have severe LV dysfunction and other comorbid conditions, as in this particular patient. Minimally invasive Mitraclip procedure has better clinical outcomes with few side effects compared to the open heart surgery.”