The 54-year-old patient from Assam is considered to be the first one to have undergone the procedure in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Amongst the cardiovascular diseases, heart failure is one of the leading causes of mortality in our country with severe mitral valve regurgitation being common among these patients. The Cardiology Department of Narayana Health City has brought a ray of hope for those suffering from severe mitral valve regurgitation by successfully performing MitraClip procedure, the latest treatment modality for treating mitral valve regurgitation.

The procedure was performed on a 54-year-old patient from Assam. The patient was leading a normal life until three months back when he started experiencing breathlessness on exertion. In fact, he couldn’t keep pace with his colleagues during his morning walk and was suffering from easy fatigability.

His symptoms gradually progressed and he started having breathlessness even at rest, which made him and his family seek medical help. He visited a hospital in Assam, as he hails and resides there and was told that his heart functioning was low especially his Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction was below the normal range.

Left ventricle ejection fraction is the percentage of blood that is pumped out of the left ventricle (this ventricle is responsible for pumping blood to the brain, heart arteries, and the rest of the body) with each heartbeat. The ideal LV ejection fraction is 50% to 70% however, in the case of this patient it was 25% indicating a concern.  He was also diagnosed to be having severe leakage of the mitral valve (Severe Mitral Regurgitation).

Mitral Valve Regurgitation is a condition wherein the valve that prevents the blood from flowing back to the left atrium is leaky. In severe mitral valve regurgitation, the blood doesn’t flow forward into the aorta the way it should causing the heart to work harder and eventually leading to heart failure. He was advised a surgery. However, he and his family decided to come to Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, for a second opinion.

The patient was admitted at Narayana Health City. The team of doctors from Cardiac Sciences evaluated the patient in detail.  The coronary angiogram showed no blocks and his ECG made him ineligible for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (Device Therapy), leading the doctors to explore newer treatment modalities. They evaluated the possibility of MitraClip.

Under the aegis of Dr. Satish Govind, Head of Non Invasive Cardiology, Narayana Health City, the team of doctors conducted a 2D Echo Doppler assessment which confirmed the eligibility of the patient for MitraClip. With the consent of the patient’s family the procedure was performed on World Heart Day — Sept. 29, 2021.

In this procedure, the mitral valve of the patient was accessed using a thin tube called a catheter that is guided through a vein in the leg and a small clip is implanted in the mitral valve. The implant clips the two leaflets of the mitral valve and reduces the leakage thereby restoring the normal blood flow through the heart. The procedure was successful and was done by the team of Senior Interventional Cardiologists consisting of Dr. Uday B. Khanolkar, Sr. Consultant – Interventional Cardiology, Dr. Bagirath Raghuraman, Sr. Consultant – Interventional Cardiology and Heart Failure and Dr. Sanjay Mehrotra, Sr. Consultant – Interventional Cardiology.

The patient was up within 6 hours of the procedure with significant improvement of his symptoms. Post procedure echo also showed only mild mitral regurgitation.