An elderly lady who required mechanical support for the heart to pump blood properly into her body has been implanted with Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), also known as a mechanical pump. The news of this successful attempt by a team of surgeons was announced by National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD).
The executive director of NICVD, Prof Nadeem Qamar and Dr. Pervaiz Chaudhry, a US-returned transplant surgeon who undertook this surgery as lead described that they have put an artificial heart into patient’s chest.
It was informed that since then the patient is fine and is able to breathe without any support. This was first of its kind Artificial Heart Transplant surgery in Pakistan and was performed free of cost at the hospital despite its procedure cost of over Rs.10 million. Dr. Sadia Rizvi the Caretaker Sindh Health minister was also present at the time of briefing.
It was also revealed that in a few days another LVAD transplant is going to be performed at NICVD. Few patients have been identified for LVAD insertion and they will get the implants said, Professor Qamar.
Former hockey goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed was identified as the first patient to receive LVAD but unfortunately, he passed away before the surgery could be performed on him.
