Director Cardiology, Dr Harinder K. Bali with 102 years old Savitri Devi, a resident of Chandigarh.
Chandigarh, May 14, 2015: 102 years old Savitri Devi, a resident of Chandigarh, smiled through heart procedure angioplasty at Fortis Hospital Mohali to become the first ever recorded case of such an elderly woman undergoing heart procedure in the world.
Director Cardiology, Dr Harinder K. Bali said that hale and hearty at 102 now, Savitri Devi is well after the procedure and has resumed her daily activities with gusto. Elaborating on the case he said that patient was wheeled in hospital with complaints of sudden breathlessness that worsened progressively and chest pain.
“She was diagnosed as having an acute coronary syndrome. Due to heart failure she had to be put on ventilator. The coronary angiogram showed a 90 percent block in the heart’s Left anterior descending artery and another 80 percent block in the Left Circumflex coronary artery . These blockages were life threatening,” said Dr Bali. After much consideration and discussion with patient and her family in view of her advanced age, Dr Bali decided to go ahead with high risk angioplasty on February 13. Angioplasty/stenting was conducted through wrist .The entire procedure was uneventful. He added that Savitri Devi has competed with her male counterpart 104 year old man from Noida and a 108 year old man from Bangalore. ''There are no published reports of any woman patient older than 102 having undergone angioplasty in the world thus making Savitri Devi oldest woman in the world to undergo angioplasty at the age of 102.
Dr Bali said that with advance technology and skills it was possible to perform angioplasty at any age. With increased longevity of the human beings the world over, the incidence of elderly people undergoing angioplasty has gone up in recent years. Dr Bali and his team have successfully performed coronary angioplasty on more than 200 patients above the age of eighty years in the last8 years.“Many of the elderly patients that we have operated upon had previously undergone bypass surgery. Coronary angioplasty is becoming popular in very elderly patients who often have multiple medical problems like renal failure, lung disease etc,” he said.
He added that angioplasty is particularly useful in elderly patients as procedure is often conducted through wrist (radial artery) making hospitalization limited to just a day and the patient is back to routine activities almost immediately.“Angioplasty gives trouble free life and enhances its quality to an unimaginable extent. Family support and encouragement also play a major role in the decision making process,” he said.