VIJAYAWADA: Doctors of the Department of Cardiology of the Guntur Government General Hospital (GGH) have successfully performed a rare dilated cardiomyopathy and surgically implanted the intracardiac defibrillator saving a patient from life-threatening heart arrhythmias.
Disclosing the details, GGH superintendent Dr Kiran Kumar said a patient identified as Anand from Amalapuram of Konaseema district was suffering from a heart disease. He visited the emergency department on May 22 and the doctors after checking the patient admitted him to the post-cath at the hospital.
Upon checking the patient, the doctors said that the intracardiac defibrillator, a therapy device that delivers shocks to control dangerous heart rhythms needs to be implanted to save the patient’s life. “The device costs Rs 4 lakh and to surgically implant the device it would require another Rs 5-6 lakh totaling Rs 10-12 lakh required to save the patient’s life. However, the patient’s family was not in a condition to afford the money for the treatment,” the GGH superintendent said.
Expressing her inability to afford money for her husband’s treatment, the patient’s wife Pushpaleela approached the GGH superintendent and urged him to procure the device through Aarogya Sri and perform the surgery and save her husband. “Although the device was covered under Aarogya Sri, it was not given to the government hospitals as the device costs Rs 4 lakh. Witnessing the patient’s plight, I wrote a letter to the Aarogya Sri Trust CEO and Guntur district coordinator and explained the severity of the case to the district collector. The officials responded positively and sanctioned the device,” the GGH superintendent explained.
“On Wednesday, the doctors successfully implanted the device through an Angiogram wherein the health condition of the patient is stable,” the superintendent informed.
The superintendent further informed that although the doctors have implemented the shock device, the patient has to undergo heart transplantation in the future. On the occasion, the superintendent congratulated Cardiology HoD Dr Srikanth and Dr Rajendra and Dr Siva Shankar for successfully performing the surgery.
