Guyana performs new, rare heart surgery

Jul 15, 2010 News

Guyana performed a rare heart surgery, Tuesday, when Dr Pratik Soni, did a cardiac intervention through the hand of a patient at the Caribbean Heart Institute. The procedure was described as the first of its kind in the country.
The patient, Motilall Satnarine, had complained of chest pains when he walked, when he ate and even when he rested. It turned out that he had a blocked artery and requested the procedure named angioplasty.

Dr Pratik Soni at centre and his team at the bedside of Motilall Satnarine

The performing surgeon, Dr Soni, said that this procedure is normally done through the leg. It is done quickly, some lasting no more than 48 seconds but on an average, just over a minute.
The patient who undergoes this method of angioplasty is required to remain in the hospital for two or three days.
In this new method which is widely practised in Germany, Holland, Japan and South Korea, the patient is discharged the same day as was the case of Satnarine.
Dr Soni explained that the patient had large blood vessels in his arm, the result of a genetic factor, and was therefore a good candidate for the procedure.
He added that the artery was totally blocked. The procedure took just more than five minutes, much longer than if it had been done through the groin.
He also said that the procedure also negated the need for open heart surgery and heart by-pass surgery, which was at one time the recommended procedure.
Satnarine said that he was awake throughout the procedure. He spoke of some pain at one stage but he said that for the most part he was comfortable. He underwent the surgical procedure at 8:00 hours and by noon he said that he was “good to go.”
During the procedure, the surgeon needed to insert a stent which would keep the blood vessel open.
Dr Soni said that there would be other such procedures.