Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: In a major boost to advanced cardiac care in Jammu & Kashmir, the Department of Cardiology at Superspeciality Hospital, Government Medical College Jammu today successfully performed six high-precision coronary angioplasties using Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) and Rotational Atherectomy (Rotablation).
The procedures were performed by Dr Dharminder Kumar and Dr Sanjeev Bhat, Cardiologists, SSH GMC Jammu, under the guidance and mentorship of Dr Vijay Trehan, renowned international interventional cardiologist.
The team had full support from Dr Puja Vimesh, HoD CTVA, and the entire staff of Cardiology and CTVS, CTVA Department.
All six patients, aged 55 to 78 years, had 90-99% heavily calcified blockages in major heart arteries.
Such ‘stone-like’ calcium makes routine balloon angioplasty ineffective and high-risk.
“Without IVUS and Rota, these patients would have required open heart bypass or referral outside J&K,” said Dr Dharminder Kumar.
The team used IVUS, an ‘ultrasound from inside the artery’, to map calcium thickness and distribution. Based on IVUS, Rotablation was done using a diamond-coated burr rotating at 1.6 lakh RPM to selectively shave calcium, followed by drug-eluting stent implantation.
Final IVUS confirmed optimal stent expansion in all cases.
Dr Sanjeev Bhat added, “All patients are stable and discharged today. This technique is used in <5% of angioplasties nationally and needs both technology and expertise.”
Dr Vijay Trehan stated, “My goal is to hand-hold and train the excellent team at GMC Jammu so that world-class cardiac interventions are available locally. Patients from J&K should not have to travel for complex calcified lesions anymore.”
Dr Puja Vimesh, HoD CTVA, appreciated the heart-team approach between Cardiology and CTVS, which is crucial for high-risk cases.
Principal, GMC Jammu, Dr Ashutosh Gupta, congratulated the departments.
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