Rare surgery on abdominal aorta
Deccan Herald, 15th July, 2003

A rare surgery on the abdominal aorta described as “Atherosclerotic Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm,” was performed successfully at Vikram Hospital and Heart Centre here. This is for the first time in the city that such a surgery was performed.

Chief Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. Nagendra Prakash told reporters that a 78-year-old patient was complaining of abdominal discomfort, back pain and fever.

On investigation, the CT scan and an MRI showed the abdominal portion of the aorta having increased four times in size and contained deposits of fatty material and blood clots.

The condition is dangerous and can lead to immediate death with sudden rupture and also dislodgement of the fatty material and blood clots leading to renal failure, bowel necrosis, gangrene of the foot etc, Dr. Prakash said.

Incidentally, the other investigations and angiogram showed blocks in the patient’s coronary artery. The patient’s high blood pressure, obesity, age and blocks in coronary artery, and impending rupture of aortic aneurysm posed high risks for surgery, he said.

However, the rare surgery of replacement of aneurysm with double velour woven Dacron prosthetic tube graft was done last month. The surgery took about three and half hours and the video clipping of the surgery was shown to the presspersons.

The patient Basheer Ahmed is the husband of the former legislator and Congress leader Mukhtharunnisa Begum.

Vikram Hospital and Heart Centre Managing Director S.B. Vikram, who was presewnt on the occasion, said there were no post-operative complications except for the patient’s abdominal wall not healing which eventually required re-suturing. “The patient’s immediate recovery was satisfactory,” he said.

Mrs. Begum, who was present with her husband, urged Chief Minister S M Krishna to extend concessions like the one enjoyed by Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, Bangalore to Vikram Hospital and Heart Centre so that quality medical care can be given to poor patients. Dr. Vikram said there is no need for patients to spend money and reach Bangalore for quality medical treatment any longer since it is available in Mysore at lower costs.