In landmark development, two open heart surgeries performed in AMCH

From our Staff Correspondent

Dibrugarh, June 16: The Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) added another feather to its cap when in a landmark development, doctors of the cardiothoracic department of the institute performed two open heart surgeries successfully on June 11 and June 12.

With this achievement a new era has been ushered in AMCH for  the treatment of cardiac patients of Upper Assam and neighboring States. It has been made possible with the establishment of the facility for open heart surgery at AMCH.  The lack of this facility constrained the department as many patients had to be sent outside the State when open heart surgery was required to be done.

Principal Dr Atindra Kumar Adhikari  and the Vice-Principal, Dr Hem Chandra Kalita had sent a proposal to ONGC  seeking their help to establish a cardiac cathlab and the facility for open heart surgery  on 2012 and the persistent efforts of the AMC authority had resulted in a sanction of a grant of Rs 7 crore from ONGC   which had been utilized for a cardiac catheterization laboratory  for the department of cardiology, re-structure of the cardio thoracic  operation theater  along with the procurement of state-of- the-art machines from Germany, including  Heart Lung machine and Hemotherm for the department of cardiothoracic surgery.

A team led by the Head of the department of Cardiothoracic surgery,  Dr. Dipak Kumar Bhattacharya,  which included Dr. Mrinmoy Talukdar and Dr Utpal Dutta along with other doctors,  nurses, per fusionists  and other technical staff from the department successfully performed intra cardiac repair of Atrial Septal Defect in two patients suffering from this inborn  heart disease. Other departments from the college including cardiology, anesthesiology, radiology, blood bank and microbiology supported this momentous effort of the cardiac surgeons of AMC. With the success of such feat, it is expected that the doctors of AMCH will be able to take the level of cardiac care of patients to further  heights.

Meanwhile the department of cardiology is doing corory angiographies regularly in their newly acquired cardiac catheterization laboratory and the beginning of the open heart surgery has opened the flood gates by giving them the much needed back up support  to start  corory revascularization through corory  angioplasty.

The members of the team of cardiothoracic surgery of AMCH has expressed their gratitude to the ONGC authority in particular and the Principal, Dr Athindra Adhikari and other staff in general for providing all support and resources in achieving such feat.