TAVI gives 86-year-old new lease of life

Vijayawada: In a rare case, VCS hospital carried out a Trans Catheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) on an 86-year-old obese woman. The implantation turned successful in that the patient could walk within 48 hours of her operation.
Addressing media here on Wednesday, Dr. Varun of VCS said the patient Bapanamma of Ramalingeswara Nagar in Vijayawada has a height of five feet, but weighed 90 kg when she arrived at the hospital near Benz Circle in Vijayawada in a ventilation stage.

Dr. Varun said on examination, they diagnosed her ailment as recurrent heart failure (pulmonary oedema) along with convulsions. A team of doctors used minimal access process to replace her valve.

Bapanamma recovered very quickly, sang a few songs in the ICU itself, and got discharged on Wednesday.

Dr. Varun said TAVI is a state-of-the-art medical procedure that replaces the heart valve through the thigh in the elderly without surgery.