Thane, Jul 12 : A 47-year-old female national of Rwanda, diagnosed with a severe heart condition that led to several other body malfunctions, has successfully been operated on by a team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals in Navi Mumbai recently.
The patient, Librathe Mukankaka, was diagnosed with dysfunction in both her heart valves (left mitral and right tricuspid), causing severe heart failure. Consequently, she was bedridden, critically ill, and at death’s door.
As a final measure, Librathe was referred to Apollo Hospitals, and was brought to India for treating her ailment, an official release by the Hospital stated on Tuesday.
The doctors of Apollo Hospitals found that due to damage in her left mitral valve, her right tricuspid valve was damaged and this dysfunction of her heart was so prolonged that it caused several other body malfunctions.
Librathe also had liver failure due to liver cirrhosis, a huge water-filled abdomen, massive uterine fibroid, severe leg edema (excessive fluid accumulation and swelling in tissues), and failure in coagulation of blood.
Dr Sanjeev Jadhav, consultant, CVTS, Heart & Lung Transplant Surgery, said in the release, “The patient was referred to us only for heart failure. But due to such multi-organ failure, heart at 25 per cent functionality, and being in a critically sick condition, we could not risk operating on her. Further, due to swelling in her uterus, there was a high probability of it being cancerous. Fortunately, a PET scan ruled out any signs of malignancy.”
Another unique problem the doctors faced was difficulty in communicating with the patient and the doctors in Rwanda. Due to lack of conclusive medical review from the treating doctors in Rwanda the patient’s condition deteriorated. However, an in-house translator at Apollo Hospitals facilitated communication between those involved.
The Apollo clinical team put Librathe on medications in an effort to remove the excess fluid accumulated in different parts of her body and improve her health.
After about a month’s time, the Rwandan began to show recovery, and five litres of fluid was removed from her abdomen (a condition known as ascites).
Once Librathe overcame all the organ malfunctions, the team of doctors treating her decided to perform heart surgery to treat the dysfunction in the heart valves.
During surgery, when the surgeons found that Librathe’s heart was still weak and grossly dilated, Librathe underwent the complex surgery successfully, wherein her mitral valve was replaced with a bioprosthetic (tissue) heart valve and the tricuspid valve was repaired.
Librathe finally made an uneventful recovery and was out of ICU three days after surgery.
Santosh Marathe, Regional chief executive officer, said in the release, “Librathe is doing very well now. She is on her feet and drinking liquids. We are elated that our team of doctors and nurses are able to treat international patients like Librathe despite the delay in getting the right treatment and communication barriers…”(UNI)