The LVAD (left ventricular assist device) is a tiny battery operated machine that is placed in close proximity to the left ventricle and the result is that the diseased heart is now able to pump out a higher proportion of blood that collects inside
Ramprasad Garg, 63, had suffered a severe heart attack in 2009 and lived with a steadily weakening heart for many years. In just a few more months, Garg told his doctors that he could no longer digest his meals properly and he would become breathless continuously.
If the heart does not pump an adequate amount of blood into the system, there is a collection of body fluids in various parts of the body, including the lungs. As fluids begin collecting in the lungs, space available for breathing and intake of oxygen is reduced steadily. While such patients often keep oxygen masks on, and oxygen cylinders ready at hand, they get very little relief unless the pumping action of the heart is boosted up.
Had he been just a few years younger, Garg could have been a fit case for a heart transplant but the procedure is not recommended for patients beyond the age of 65. In any case, heart transplants are conducted in relatively few medical centres in India. Hearts that are suitable for transplant are quite difficult to come by, and the waiting time is often quite long, but many patients are medically unfit to wait for their turn to come.
Garg then came into contact with Dr Kewal Kishan, the Director of Heart Transplants and LVAD programme, Max Hospital, Saket. For him and his family, it was a sort of revelation, that there was indeed an alternative to a heart transplant. The LVAD (left ventricular assist device) is a tiny battery operated machine that does exactly what its name suggests. Placed in close proximity to the left ventricle (the thick muscular part of the heart which actually pumps blood out into the rest of the body) the device helps it to increase the pumping action. The result is that the diseased and weakened heart is now able to pump out a higher proportion of blood that collects inside. The entire circulatory system thus gets a huge fillip, and the patient’s condition shows a drastic improvement.
Among the commonest brands of LVAD is HeartMate, developed by a US-based company named St Jude’s Medical, which Abbott Healthcare acquired sometime last year. The version of HeartMate now available for the past two years or so is HeartMate-3, which is a noticeable improvement over the 2002 model, that is, HeartMate II. This model has been used in more than 26,000 patients all over the world, with 14,000 patients surviving till today.
Garg received one of the commonest brands of LVAD, developed by a US-based company named St Jude’s Medical, which Abbott Healthcare acquired sometime last year. This model has been used in more than 26,000 patients all over the world, with 14,000 patients surviving till today. Garg was implanted with the LVAD on May 4, 2016, a month after his doctors decided that this was the appropriate course of treatment. At that time, he was the first in India and second in Asia to receive the LVAD implant. Today he is back to his normal life. “I still get up at 5 am to go for a morning walk, perform my exercise of 108 claps, along with the laughter club. Then I sleep for some more time before breakfast at 10 am. After a couple of hours, I have a light lunch and then go to a nearby park, where I play cards for a few hours with a group of senior citizens. The highlight of my life post the LVAD was that I could even dance at my son’s wedding,” Garg said.
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