Surgeons at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) implanted a second Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) into the heart of a patient who was facing heart failure and brought to the cardiac-care facility in a critical condition, NICVD officials said on Thursday.
LVAD is a mechanical pump or a supportive device that helps the pumping of blood from the left ventricle of a patient whose heart’s left ventricle becomes weak. The procedure does not replace the heart of the patient with the mechanical device.
“The second recipient of the LVAD is a 58-year visitor from Islamabad, who had a massive heart attack in Karachi and was taken to a private hospital where he underwent angiography. During the process, the patient faced heart failure and the family shifted him to the NICVD where our experts implanted LVAD in his chest,” Dr Hamidullah Malik, a senior NICVD official told The News.
The implant procedure was carried out by eminent US-based Pakistani surgeon Dr Perviaz Chaudhry, who has joined the NICVD and is carrying out LVAD implant surgeries. He is being assisted by US nurse Abigail Boultinghouse, who would also train local paramedics and nurses in dealing with patients after LVAD transplants.
“Mr Naeem Bukhari, the patient recipient of the LVAD is fortunate that he was in Karachi when he had the heart problem and he was brought to the NICVD, where Dr Pervaiz Chaudhry and his team was ready to implant the device,” Dr Hamidullah said, adding that fortunately, the costly device was also available at the NICVD and implanted free of charge.
Dr Pervaiz Chaudhry announced the completion of the second LVAD implant procedure on Thursday evening, saying it went well by the Grace of God although it was a medical emergency as the patient had come with a massive heart attack.
Felicitations are pouring in for Dr Pervaiz Chaudhry and Dr Nadeem Qamar, executive director of the NICVD, after the two successful LVAD implants were performed for the first time at any cardiac-care facility in Pakistan, where no charges are being received from the patients for the procedure and device, which costs roughly around 11 million rupees.
Nafisa Mamnoon became the first patient of the LVAD implant at the NICVD on Monday after cardiologists declared her as the best candidate for the mechanical pump to help her failing heart.
She regained consciousness and responded to calls of her family members, including her son, while doctors said she would be able to walk within the ward in coming days and live a normal life after she was discharged from the hospital.
NICVD officials said somebody was supporting the institute in acquiring LVAD devices. They had a couple of more devices which they were going to implant in other patients.
But cardiologists from other cardiac-care institutions refuted NICVD officials’ claim that the LVAD is an artificial heart, saying an artificial heart replaces the organic heart of a patient with a mechanical device, whereas the LVAD is merely a mechanical pump that helps the heart’s left ventricle to pump blood to the body.
“LVAD does not replace the original, organic heart; instead, it is a device that supports the heart to pump blood. Most of the times, this device is implanted as Bridge To Transplant (BTT) as patients require a heart transplant to live a normal life,” a senior cardiologist from a leading heart institute told The News.
Source: The News (July 13, 2018)
