Pulmonary valve disease has cost a lot of lives worldwide in the past. This disease may occur on its own or as part of other congenital heart defects such as Tetralogy of Fallot. Pulmonary valve replacement or PVR is nothing short of a miracle for heart patients. This is a highly complex procedure that requires the expertise and technology of the highest order. This is the reason India has seen only 6 PVR cases so far out of which 2 have been performed at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.

To understand the pulmonary valve, related complications and the treatments better, first, one need to have an idea of the pulmonary valve itself.

What is a pulmonary valve?

The pulmonary valve is one of four valves that regulate and administer blood flow in the heart. This valve is situated between one of the heart’s lowerchambers i.e. right ventricle and a big artery carrying impure blood to lungs for purification, i.e. pulmonary artery.

As the right ventricle undergoes contraction, the pulmonary valve opens to allow oxygen-depleted blood to travel from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, in order to carry blood to the lungs for oxygenation. As the ventricle relaxes, the pulmonary valve closes tightly enough to ensure that blood does not flow back into the right ventricle.

So, when the pulmonary valve malfunctions the flow of blood from the heart to the lungs is compromised. It causes the right ventricle to work harder to eject blood into pulmonary artery.

The process of pulmonary valve replacement

Until a few years back, the only treatment for pulmonary problems was a high-risk open surgery, which would be followed by multiple surgeries in some cases. The survival rate back then was abysmal. But given that it was the only treatment available, the patients and families would go for open heart surgery. This issue laid the path of the discovery of a medical breakthrough that made open heart surgery a thing of distant past. Percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement requires a cardiac catheterization process thus avoiding the need for open heart surgery.

In this procedure, the doctor removes the pulmonary valve and replaces it with a mechanical valve made from artificial materials or a biological valve, all using a fine hollow tubing called catheter. The hospital stay is minimal in this process and recovery is manifolds faster. This process has zero to few side effects under normal circumstances. The patient can go back to leading a normal life within a few days or a week, depending upon the underlying heart condition.

Fortis Escort – North India’s first and only center to perform Pulmonary Valve Replacement without open heart surgery

Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi is home to North India’s most advanced and successful Pediatric Cardiology Department. It provides state-of-the-art medical services and world-class treatment to patients with congenital heart diseases ranging from newborns to adults. The results here are at par with that of international centers and hospitals. Known as an early adopter of modern and advanced medical technologies, Fortis Escorts has recently started using Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Replacement method in order to promise a zero-risk alternative to patients suffering from faulty pulmonary valve.

It is the only one hospital in the region that has the expertise and experience required for this treatment. In a short span of time, doctors at Fortis Escorts have performed two successful implantations without any complication. Both the patients were discharged from the hospital in a very short time.