NEW DELHI, Sept 20:
A 61-year-old Pakistani man suffering from an ailing heart and deteriorating kidneys has received a new lease of life thanks to a “multi-disciplinary” surgery done by Indian doctors at a Delhi hospital.
Zafar Khan from Peshawar was admitted to the hospital on September 1 in a “critical condition and was on haemodialysis”.
The hospital said he had a stent procedure conducted seven years ago and his kidneys had deteriorated very badly. He was advised a kidney transplant.
The life-saving surgery was conducted by a team of doctors led by Aparna Jaswal, Associate Director Electrophysiology at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.
“The patient needed critical care and was very fragile. We realised that before doing the surgery, his heart was so weak, we needed to fix it first. The most challenging part of the surgery was that it was a multi-disciplinary procedure,” Dr Jaswal said.
“Tests were conducted to determine his medical condition and they revealed that the heart was functioning to only 15–16 per cent of its capacity,” she said.
“Zafar Khan was brought to our hospital in a critical condition. Considering a CRT implantation in such patients can be extremely challenging. It required extra precautions and multi-disciplinary team of nephrologists. With the implant of the CRT (cardiac resynchronisation therapy) we are hoping he should be able to live better and longer,” Jaswal said.
CRT is done on patients to increase the pumping capacity of the heart.
Khan’s son Ibrahim said, “We got repeated refusals from doctors in Pakistan and India that our father’s heart was beyond treatment.”
“Several rounds to multiple hospitals in Pakistan led to no positive outcome as all the hospitals turned Khan away on the basis that none of them were equipped to treat him due to lack of skill and clinical excellence.
“Khan was advised implantation of a CRT in Pakistan, however, his sons could not find any healthcare provider ready to take the challenge. Hence, they decided to bring him to India,” the hospital claimed. (PTI)
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