Heart skipped a beat, Omani back to life

KOCHI: A 75-year-old man from Oman, Hamood Muslem Hamed Al Jahafi, who was in a critical condition after pumping power of his heart declined drastically due to leak in the heart valve, has received a new lease of life thanks to a group of doctors at VPS Lakeshore here. The valve, mitral valve, was repaired by a medical team under Dr. Moosa Kunhi in a seven hour-long surgery.  The pumping power of Hamood's heart was only 20 per cent. He had previously undergone angioplasty for removing three blocks in his heart. Though the patient consulted doctors at various hospitals in his home country, they refused to perform surgery to repair the valve as high risk was involved in the same.

"The patient was in a critical state and was unable to walk or lay. His condition further deteriorated after reaching Kerala and immediately required an open heart surgery for repairing the valve," said Dr. Moosa Kunhi. He added that due to the leak, purified blood was flowing back to lungs. Further complicating the situation, the patient's blood pressure came down to 60 - 70 from the normal 120 - 130.

"Instead of replacing the valve, we repaired it. We used commercially available mitral valve ring for repairing the valve. The patient's condition has improved and pumping of the heart increased to 30 per cent," the doctor said. He added that after such surgery patients usually lead a very good life.