Mumbai hospital successfully fits woman with cow's heart valve

A 52-year-old woman suffering from a severely damaged heart valve was successfully treated with a replacement surgery and implanted with a cow's pericardial valve at a Mumbai hospital.

Amita Patki was diagnosed with aortic aneurysm -- enlargement of the aorta.

An aneurysm is a bulge or "ballooning" in the wall of an artery, which carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

An overstretched and weak aorta can burst, causing serious bleeding and leading to death.

A 2D Echocardiogram -- also known as echo test -- revealed to the doctors at Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital that the valve damage was in an advanced stage.

"We performed a surgery on her and replaced the defunct valve with a biological bovine pericardial valve," said Hemant Pathare, Surgeon (Cardiovascular and Thoracic) at Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital.

"The patient was also diagnosed with ascension in her aorta up to the base. The ascending aorta was also replaced along with a part of the arch of aorta," Pathare added.

The patient is responding well to post-surgery treatment and will be discharged soon, the doctor said.

--IANS

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