N. R. Kumarasamy 50 years old gentleman had a severe back pain on 22nd October while he was driving home. When the pain did not subside he was rushed to Kovai Medical Center and Hospital (KMCH) emergency. He was examined by Interventional Cardiologist Dr. R. Suresh Kumar.
Upon examination, the patient was then subjected to CT Aortogram which revealed a complicated Stanford Type A Aortic dissection. In this disorder, the major blood vessel that comes out of heart and supplies blood to the whole body gets torn from inside and this extends to both the brain arteries and it also involves the arteries supplying blood to the liver, the left kidney and the intestine. This condition demands an emergency surgical intervention failing which leads to almost 100% mortality, said Dr.Prashant Vaijayanth, Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery, KMCH.
The doctor stated that the patient was extremely sick and had kidney dysfunction, as well. After initial stabilization, the patient was taken up for emergency high risk open heart surgery. He was connected to a heart -lung machine and his body temperature was reduced to 16 degree C (Normal 37degree C).
His blood circulation was stopped for about 45 minutes during which his Aorta was replaced and his Aortic valve was repaired along with hemiarch replacement. He also had a bypass operation to the right heart artery as it had a stent with significant narrowing. Post surgery, he was gradually taken off from heart-lung machine.
After a few days of hospitalisation, Kumarasamy recovered from the surgery and his organ function was confirmed to be normal. On the 6th post operative day he was discharged from KMCH in a stable condition. “KMCH has performed more than 10 such cases in this year itself with 100% success rate” said Dr.Nalla G Palaniswami, Chairman, KMCH.