Apollo Hospitals Chennai Gifting a new lease of life to a 82 year-old EX Army Major General

Apollo Hospitals Chennai – How we helped a veteran vote!!  Gifting a new lease of life to a 82 year-old EX Army Major General

Chennai: Apollo Hospitals, Asia’s largest and most trusted multi-specialty chain of hospitals gave a new lease of life to a 82 year-old EX Army Major General Dr. Sathyapalan (A medical doctor from 1955 batch of Stanley Medical college - served 33 years in the Indian Army) who suffered Severe Aortic Stenosis due to surgical valve failure. Dr.Sai Satish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist and team replaced the damaged heart valve through Trans catheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) procedure.

(L- R) Patient  Ex Army Major Dr. Sathyapalan seen with and Dr. Sai Sathish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals Chennai

Aortic valve stenosis is a common valvular disease that occurs usually in old age due to wear and tear of aortic valve as well as calcium deposits on the valve’s flaps that narrow the aortic valve opening.  Symptoms include shortness of breath and chest pain that, if left untreated, can be life threatening. Trans Catheter Aortic Valve Implantation or Replacement (TAVI or TAVR)  procedure performed under local anesthesia is a best option to treat such complicated cases. In this procedure a thin, flexible tube housing the new collapsed valve is inserted most commonly through the femoral artery and delivered to the heart, replacing the old diseased valve. This procedure is available only in very few centres across in India including Apollo Hospitals.

Dr. Sai Sathish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals Chennai clarifying the doubts

82 years old EX Army Major General Dr. Sathyapalan was suffering from severe Aortic valve narrowing due to surgical valve failure with miserable quality of life with repeated episodes of pulmonary edema. He was refused any treatment option by multiple centres because of his age, frailty and that it was a degenerated surgical valve now causing the problem. He approached Dr. Sai Satish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals Chennai for further treatment and underwent a Trans Catheter Aortic Valve Replacement procedure.

Explaining the case Dr. Sai Sathish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals Chennai said, “This was an extremely challenging case as the vessels in his leg were severely calcified and narrowed and no valve could be moved across them for replacement. Since the patient did not have any old records or information on the previously implanted surgical valve including its size etc, it was further challenging for us to replace the failed valve with a new one. His age and physical health again stood as a high risk making the procedure very demanding.”

He also added, “The procedure however went extremely smooth, the narrowed leg vessel was first dialated with multiple ballons gently until the space was big enough to accommodate the valve system, the valve was then moved across this and placed safely, inside the old degenerated surgical valve in under 20 mins.”

The patient was shifted back to the CCU fully conscious and then back to the normal ward the very same evening. He got discharged the second day post-surgery and cast his vote for the Lok Sabha Elections.

Dr. Sai Satish’s Profile

Dr. Sai Satish is an internationally renowned Senior Interventional Cardiologist from Apollo Hospitals, India. He is also a practicing interventional cardiologist & faculty in one of the world’s best TAVR training centres, the Gottsegen Institute of Cardiology in Budapest, Hungary.  A pioneer in the field, he holds the reputation for having performed the highest number of MitraClip implants in the subcontinent till date. As an international proctor for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, he established India’s first dedicated TAVR training center at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Doctors from more than 20 countries have benefitted from his hands-on training programmes in Hungary and other parts of Europe.

He helped start TAVR programmes across the globe and trained Sri Lanka’s doctors, helping implant the country’s first few valves. Dr. Sai Satish has also been an active part of India’s maiden MitraClip journey, a revolutionary procedure treating leaking mitral valves in critically-ill, and inoperable heart failure patients giving them a second lease of life. It is a niche procedure that is so technically demanding that only 3 centres across India have been licensed to perform. Dr. Sai Satish has implanted up to 6 MitraClips back to back. His most recent milestone was a completely transcatheter mitral valve replacement by transeptal access for a surgically implanted mitral valve that failed after 14 years. Dr. Sai Satish’s team has performed thousands of procedures for diffusely diseased vessels, Left Mains (isolated/ bifurcation/trifurcation), Chronic Total Occlusions (100% blocked vessels) and heavily calcified vessels with rotablation for which also he is a proctor.Dr Sai Satish sits on several international advisory boards and chairs sessions on complex PCI and TAVR.

(L- R) Patient's Relative, Patient  Ex Army Major Dr. Sathyapalan seen with and Dr. Sai Sathish, 
Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals Chennai

He has performed several live case demonstrations and initiated many centers both in and outside India in rotablation as well. A trailblazer in minimally invasive cardiovascular therapies, he has been performing procedures at Apollo Hospitals Chennai since 2006. Dr. Sai Satish has a strong social streak as well, running several free camps across the country, championing preventive health because he firmly believes lifestyle monitoring is the best bet for future generations.

ABOUT APOLLO HOSPITALS

It was in 1983, that Dr. Prathap Reddy made a pioneering endeavour by launching India’s first corporate hospital - Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. Over the years Apollo Hospitals has established itself as home to the largest cardiac practice in India with over 160,000 cardiac surgeries. Apollo Hospitals is also the world’s largest private cancer care provider and runs the world’s leading solid organ transplant program.

As Asia’s largest and most trusted healthcare group, its presence includes 9,215 beds across 64 Hospitals, 2,500 Pharmacies, over 90 Primary Care and Diagnostic Clinics, 110  plus Telemedicine Centres and 80 plus Apollo Munich Insurance branches spanning   the length and breadth of the Country.

As an integrated healthcare service provider with Health Insurance services, Global Projects Consultancy capability, over 15 medical education centres and a Research Foundation with a focus on global Clinical Trials, epidemiological studies, stem cell & genetic research Apollo Hospitals has been at the forefront of new medical breakthroughs with the most recent investment being that of commissioning the first Proton Therapy Center across Asia, Africa and Australia in Chennai, India. Every four days, the Apollo Hospitals Group touches a million lives, in its mission to bring healthcare of International standards within the reach of every individual.

In a rare honour, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo's contribution, the first for a healthcare organization. Apollo Hospitals Chairman, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 2010. For more than 30 years, the Apollo Hospitals Group has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting-edge technology. Our hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals globally for advanced medical services and research.