Woman Gets New Lease of Life after Endovascular Surgery

By 121 News

Chandigarh 21^st November:- A middle-aged woman suffering from a massive proximal deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and a massive Pulmoinary Embolism (PE) got a new lease of life after  her rare endovascular surgery at Ivy Hospital, Mohali recently.

46-yr old Shalini (name changed) had a swelling of the left leg. She was diagnosed as DVT and treatment started .During treatment she developed a blackout followed by severe shortness of breath. A MR angiogram revealed a potentially fatal condition Pulmonary Embolism (PE) where a large clot was formed in her main pulmonary artery.

Talking to media during a press conference here on Thursday, Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, Director Cardio Vascular Endovascular & Thoracic Sciences at Ivy Hospital Mohali said that combination of a large proximal DVT with a large PE is a rare and potentially fatal condition. A very delicate procedure called catheter directed thrombolysis (CDT) was planned.

For the DVT a catheter was directly placed via the vein at the knee into the clot . For the PE another catheter was placed from a different site into the lung artery. Now a very potent clot buster (blood thinner) was started directly into the clot . This was continued by special computerized machines to deliver a precise dose into the clot, informed Dr Bedi.

He further said that a large PE can suddenly block the outflow of the heart leading to a cardiac arrest. The treatment till now was a high risk open heart surgery. To remove the clots doing CDT for DVT and PE at the same time has never been reported in the world so far, he pointed out.

Meanwhile PE is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death. Most patients die within the first few hours of presentation, making an early diagnosis and treatment paramount to survival. The symptoms of DVT include pain or tenderness, often starting in the calf, swelling, including the ankle or foot, Redness or noticeable discoloration and warmth. The symptom for PE are; unexplained shortness of breath, rapid breathing, chest pain (may be worse upon deep breath), rapid heart rate and light headedness or passing out.