Janata Dal (Secular) State president and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy underwent a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), a non-surgical procedure, at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on Thursday. He is likely to be discharged on Saturday.
This is the third time that he is undergoing the procedure as he has developed restenosis due to tissue valve degeneration, the previous occasions being in 2007 and 2017. Mr. Kumaraswamy had suffered a stroke twice in the past and is also diabetic.
Due to the tissue valve degeneration, Mr. Kumaraswamy had developed severe breathlessness, fatigue and chest pain in the last one month. “Although he was feeling better with medications, the restenosis had to be corrected. The surgery has been successful and he will be discharged on Saturday,” said C.N. Manjunath, former director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research.
“TAVI is a common non-surgical procedure that improves the blood flow in the heart by replacing an aortic valve that does not open fully. Following the procedure, the patient gets a better quality of life and improvement in symptoms. He can resume his normal activities after two-three days of rest,” he told The Hindu.
The procedure was conducted by a team of doctors led by Sai Satish, interventional cardiologist and head of Structural Heart Diseases at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. The team included Geza Fontos, Chief of Interventional Cardiology at Hungarian Institute of Cardiology, Dr. Manjunath and two others from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai.
