Japanese experts take doctors to new frontiers

KOCHI: In a rare happening, Japanese experts joined their Indian counterparts on Saturday to handle minimal invasive coronary angioplasty in Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) cases at different super- specialty hospitals in various states as part of the live summit of Indo- Japanese CTO Club (IJCTOC) here.

The surgeries were transmitted live to demonstrate and share the newer techniques and skills and hold deliberations with more than 500 expert cardiologists attending the summit at Le Meridian Convention Centre here. The Japanese experts and faculty comprising Dr. Etsu Tsuchikane, Dr.  Kenyu Nasu, Dr. Masahisa Yamane, Dr. Toshiya Muramatsu, Dr. Yuji Hamazaki and Dr. Maota Habara present at the summit flew to various hospitals for the live operations.

They joined Dr. Prathap Kumar at Meditrina Hospital Kollam, Dr.V. Suryaparakasa Rao at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, Dr.P.K. Goel at  Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, and  Dr.A.V. Ganesh Kumar at Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai, to conduct live angioplasty.

Dr. Prathap Kumar, Interventional Cardiologist, Meditrina Hospital, Kollam, said Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), commonly known as coronary angioplasty, is regarded as the most effective and minimally invasive procedure to open blocked or narrow coronary arteries to restore blood flow to heart muscles.

However, in more than 10 percent of patients, there can be Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) characterised by complete or near complete blockage of a vessel, too hard or calcified, making the normal intervention difficult. Traditionally, open heart bypass surgeries are done in such cases.

“Now the minimal invasive treatment pioneered by Japanese expert interventional cardiologists employs angioplasty techniques to remove most of these complex complete blocks as well,” Dr. Prathap Kumar said. Dr. Etsuo Tsuchikane, reputed Japanese interventional cardiologist, demonstrated the retrograde approach, one of the most sophisticated technique to treat CTO. 

“The blocked artery is approached from the back through micro vessels in a complete loop using specially designed micro instruments and wires and the block is pierced from the backside, where it is often soft,” he explained.