The case reflects the growing use of minimally invasive heart-valve procedures for elderly and high-risk patients in Mumbai
Mumbai: When 81-year-old Wada resident Narayan Patil reached civic-run KEM Hospital in Parel after six months of worsening breathlessness, doctors found he needed treatment for both blocked coronary arteries and a leaking heart valve. The hospital has also performed 10 M-TEER procedures over the past four years, he said. Because of the high cost of treatment, patil’s son, Sandesh, who works with a private firm in Palghar, said the family approached KEM instead of a private hospital.
“The quote for M-TEER at a private Mumbai hospital was almost twice what we paid at KEM,” he said, adding that he has applied to his insurance company for the Rs 15-lakh reimbursement. “We are happy we took him to a public hospital,” Sandesh said. “Over the past three years, we have performed over 60 TAVR procedures, putting us among the busiest programmes of its kind in the state,” said KEM cardiology department head Dr Ajay Mahajan. “Over the past few years, Mumbai has witnessed a steady increase in the adoption of minimally invasive cardiac therapies, particularly TAVR,” said Dr Haresh Mehta, director of interventional cardiology at SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim.
But his age and frailty made conventional open-heart surgery a high-risk option. Doctors in Palghar had initially advised bypass surgery and mitral-valve repair or replacement. At KEM, however, the cardiology team opted for a less invasive approach, performing two procedures seven days apart. The angioplasty, he added, was carried out free under govt schemes. His father was discharged within a couple of days after each procedure and his breathlessness has reduced substantially. Patil’s case reflects the growing use of minimally invasive heart-valve procedures for elderly and high-risk patients in Mumbai. KEM has steadily expanded its structural-heart programme in recent years, with expertise in procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), which replaces a diseased aortic valve through a catheter rather than open-heart surgery. The growing use of minimally invasive valve procedures is not limited to KEM. Advances in imaging, technology and procedural planning have enabled doctors to treat higher-risk patients while reducing recovery time, he added.