Rotablator surgery carried out on heart patient at Wockhardt, Nashik

A 54-year old patient recently underwent a successful cardiac procedure at Wockhardt Hospital, Nashik, in which the Rotablator technique was used to remove the plaque from the blocked artery. 

The procedure by carried out by eminent cardiologist, Dr Kirti Punamiya, along with a team of doctors from Wockhardt Hospital, Nashik.

According to Dr Punamiya, “In about 30 per cent of blockages, especially in the elderly and diabetic group, the heart arteries become very hard due to deposition of calcium. At times, the calcification in the arteries is highly severe, making it NOT suitable for routine angioplasty and stenting procedures.”

For such patients, it is the rotablator technique that proves to be useful in removing the plaque from the blocked artery. The rotablator equipment is a driller of a size smaller than a rice grain and rotates at two lakh (2,00,000) rotations per minute (RPM). This equipment is introduced inside the blocked artery and this grinds to dust the plaque which is blocking the blood supply to the heart.

About 1.5-8 per cent of procedures for de-blocking the arteries worldwide are now done using the rotablator technique, depending on the expertise available at the various hospitals where it is done.

Referring to the case at Wockhardt Hospital, Nashik, Dr Punamiya further said that the patient had undergone various routine techniques for the treatment of his blocked artery, but there was no success. This made the case challenging and he was finally treated by use of the Rotablator technique.

There are eight hospitals that are part of this chain, and these are located at Vashi (Navi Mumbai), Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Goa, Nashik, Nagpur Heart Hospital and Nagpur Superspeciality Hospital. There is a ninth hospital coming up at South Mumbai and which will be operational soon. 

(arshia.khan@infomedia18.in)