Bengaluru-origin doctor performs unique cardiac surgery in US

BENGALURU:

Dr Aditya Bharadwaj

, an alumni of

Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute

has been in news for his innovative approach in treating cardiac patients.


A 70-year-old American male patient

David Quiett

(

Vietnam war

veteran), who had calcium deposition in both heart vessels and leg arteries, required a stenting procedure and the insertion of a blood pumping assisting device called Impella. While the usual procedure is to insert the cardiac devices via leg artery, the same could not have been done in this case, as the patient had calcium deposition in his leg arteries too.

With no options left to reach the heart vessels via traditional access points in the leg, the medical team had to look for alternative options and the team went ahead with via the major artery in the shoulder.

A team of interventional cardiologists headed by Dr Aditya, employed the method to insert both impella and a cardiac stent via a shoulder artery. Prior to this, the doctors had to drill out the calcium deposition in the cardiac artery (procedure called

atherectomy

), also done via a major shoulder artery called axillary artery, which was technically challenging and complex.

The surgery was conducted at Loma Linda University International Heart Institute on October 22 and this is said to be the first in the United States. The surgery involved risks, as working with the arteries near neck can create greater risk of stroke. On November 11, the university issued a press release and claimed that the the surgery was the nation’s (US) first alternative access point for heart device insertion.

Dr Aditya, 36, is an assistant professor of Medicine, interventional cardiologist at Loma Linda University, California.

“Stents may have been inserted via the axillary artery in India, but the uniqueness of our procedure was that we used the axillary artery to perform three procedures at once. The insertion of ‘impella’, a heart assist device which is a large

catheter

(twice the size of the conventional catheter) and also the cardiac stent was inserted through axillary artery. Besides, prior to the procedure, we had to remove the calcium deposition in the two vessels in the patient’s heart, all done via the axillary artery,” explained Dr Aditya.

According to him, as many as 40 % of the cardiac patients with blockages in heart will also have severe blockages in their leg arteries too. And the novel procedure can help many such patients henceforth.

He was a 2001 batch student of BMCRI. “I have always been fascinated by the heart and its function. Interventional cardiology particularly drew me because, I think it is an exciting field to be in due to constant innovation and research. It is also a field where science meets arts. While everything we do is scientifically driven, the actual procedure itself is a form of precise and intricate art,” he said.

A supportive team and the innovative procedures done so far prior to this were immensely helpful says Dr Aditya. “I would like to thank interventional cardiologists Dr Raj Tayal from New Jersey who proctored me for the axillary insertion of impella, and Dr Jason Wollmuth from Oregon, USA who first described the single-access technique from the groin approach,” said Dr Aditya.