Yashoda launches new cardiac surgery programme

Yashoda Group of Hospitals has launched a rare cardiac surgery programme — Pulmonary Thrombo-Endarterectomy (PTE) — in collaboration with US-based Duke University Medical Centre. A first-of-its-kind initiative by any hospital in India, the surgery will be done for removing blood clots in lungs.

PTE is a surgical cure for patients suffering from a very rare condition called chronic thrombo embolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), where a patient has abnormal hypertension (high blood pressure) due to blood clots in the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs).

The procedure takes 6-8 hours, depending on the number and size of the clots and its location, GS Rao, managing director of Yashoda Group of Hospitals, said.

The common symptoms for PTE include increased breathlessness, limitation in exercise and fatigue leading to reduced life expectancy, Duane R Davis, director, transplant services, Duke University, said.

“Duke University runs one of the largest PTE programmes in the US. Only a few hospitals perform PTE due to lack of required experience and expertise,” he added.