Times of India
28 August 2010

City Anchor Three Cases Were Presented, The Last Was Unplanned As The Patient Suffered A Heart Attack Just As She Arrived
ARDIOLOGISTS from across the globe at Amsterdam were given a live demonstration of advanced angioplasty techniques by Jehangir’s team of cardiologists comprising Dr JS Dugal, Dr Ajit Mehta, Dr Mandar Deo and Dr Priya Palimkar.

"Three cases were presented of which, the last was live and unplanned as the patient had a heart attack when she arrived," said Dr Mandar Deo. The hospital’s emergency team managed the angioplasty within one hour of arrival, despite it being com plex and the main vessel was blocked, coupled with other complications, said Dugal.

The patient, a 60–year–old woman with diabetes had a complete blockage in the main vessel supplying blood to the right side of the heart. The artery was opened using a special technique called thrombosuction followed by multiple balloon dilatations and stenting with drug eluting stents.

The case was followed live by the audience and the entire team effort, from retrieval by the 1066 team to angioplasty, was appreciated, a statement issued here stated.

The team led by Dugal, head, Cathlab, Jehangir Hospital, also presented another complex case –angioplasty for total occlusion (complete blockage of the blood vessel), demonstrating to an international audience that Pune has a centre with a fully developed CTO (Chronic Total Occlusion) management programme.

"We were able to avoid bypass surgery in such a young male patient, and he will go home within a few days, said Dr Ajit Mehta.

Dugal and his team also demonstrated a unique and rare angioplasty procedure called inverse crush technique. "It is used when there is a bifurcation of the main blood vessel (LAD) into two branches, both of which have significant blockages. This tech nique is complex and rarely performed at even the most reputed cardiac centers in the world.

In this procedure, both the branches have to be simultaneously opened and stented so as to prevent either one collapsing and leading to a heart attack on the table," said Dugal. The live telecast was part of the three–day Indo–European Course on Revascularization at Amsterdam, held from August 24 26.

Advanced techniques in cardiology were transmitted live from 13 different cardiac centers across the globe to an international audience of cardiologists assembled at the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam.