Novel non-surgical method to repair heart valve

New Delhi: Doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute here have performed the country’s first successful MitraClip procedure to repair the leaking heart valve of a 69-year-old man, thereby avoiding the standard open heart surgery for such conditions, the hospital claimed on Monday. Till now, open heart surgery with repair or replacement of the valve had been the only possible treatment for such patients in India, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute said in a statement. “The MitraClip is a novel catheter based non-surgical repair of the mitral valve inside the heart and is performed in the catheterization laboratory like angioplasty,” Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute who led the team of doctors who performed the procedure on the patient explained. “Special catheters are inserted through the large vein in the groin and the catheter is passed from the right chamber of the heart to the left chamber of the heart by puncturing the partition called interatrial septum,” Seth said. “Then, under echocardiography and X-ray guidance a clip is put on the leaking mitral valve to decrease the leak which improves the condition of the patient. The patient is normally ready to be discharged in 24-48 hours’ time,” he added. (IANS)

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