72-year-old Chennai woman gets a new lease of life at Frontier Lifeline Hospital due to Transcatheter nonsurgical valve replacement

Photo Caption:

Photo_01 : (L to R)-Dr. Rajaram Anantharaman - Senior Consultant Cardiologist & Director for Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy , the patient Mrs. Pushpavalli and Dr. K. M Cherian – CEO & Founder, Frontier Lifeline Hospital.

·         India’s first successful TAVR procedure in association with CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme)

·         The availability of the indigenously made affordable MyValve by Meril Lifesciences made the successful procedure possible.

Chennai, 04 February 2020: For the 1^st time in India a patient with severe Aortic Valve Stenosis, underwent successful Transcather Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) without surgery under Central Government Health scheme (CGHS) at Frontier Lifeline Hospital. The patient was considered high risk for surgery to replace the valve. The 72-year-old patient, Mrs. Pushpavalli, who hails from Chennai, encountered breathlessness due to the severe narrowing of her aortic valve, as she had multiple other medical conditions such as diabetes, pulmonary hypertension and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), following a combined heart team advise.

The TAVR procedure was completed successfully at Frontier Lifeline Hospital and this procedure was possible only because of the availability of the indigenously made MyValve by Meril Lifesciences, with CE mark at affordable price.

Commenting on the same, Dr. K. M. Cherian – CEO & Founder, Frontier Lifeline Hospital said, “It is very unfortunate that Pushpavalli had to encounter several difficulties to get her new lease of life due to the support from CGHS and indigenously produced TAVR valve by Meril Lifesciences. Otherwise until now TAVR was only made available for patients who could afford to pay more than 20 lakhs as the imported valves were expensive and beyond affordability for many Indian patients in need. Our doctors have also played an important role in communicating with the officials in CGHS about this new technology and the positive outcomes this procedure brings in otherwise high risk no option patients. Through this successful procedure the Central Government Health Scheme will also be more motivated to offer future patients with similar problems and make India a better and healthier place to live for those who await their second chances.”

Further adding to the success of the surgery, Dr. Rajaram Anantharaman – Senior Consultant Cardiologist & Director for Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy said, “It gives me immense pleasure to have played a vital role in ensuring that Pushpavalli is given more than a second chance. With the advent of minimally invasive non-surgical valve replacement, high risk and medium risk patients are rather opting for TAVR (Transcatheter aortic valve replacement) which involves replacing a valve with a tube place in groin. This is a much lower risk compared to other surgical valve replacement procedures. The chance of death, rehospitalisation and stroke are lower with early mobilisation in TAVR.  In this particular case, we wanted to go with a procedure that would be minimally invasive non-surgical whilst ensuring a speedy recovery process, as age is a major factor.”

Frontier Lifeline Hospital & Dr. K. M. Cherian Heart Foundation are the frontrunners in Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy as India’s 1^st Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) was done in 2010 under the supervision of Dr. K. M. Cherian and team. The first valve in valve TAVI in India was done in 2015 by Dr. Rajaram Anantharaman at Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Chennai for a failed Bioprosthetic Aortic Valve.  In March 2019, South India’s first Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Implantation was done by Dr. Rajaram Anantharaman & Dr. Raghavan Subramanian under the supervision of Dr. K. M. Cherian.