THE Port Moresby General Hospital has made history in interventional cardiology with the country’s first Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), a minimally invasive procedure that replaces a natural aortic valve with an artificial valve.
On Sunday, 2nd March, PMGH’s cardiology team in collaboration with Dr Gurbhej Singh, Certified Proctor for Valve Interventions and Mr Alok Chand, clinical specialist under the Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Limited, performed this life-saving procedure on a 54-year-old male whose heart condition had been slowly deteriorating over the years and was rejected twice from the Open-Heart surgery program due to his age.
According to Dr Singh, TAVI is a safe procedure meant for people who are very high risk and where open-heart surgeries are not a viable option.
“We are using minimally invasive techniques is the good thing about doing this procedure, it involves a lot of teamwork. So, congratulations to this wonderful team at Port Moresby General Hospital. They have done and put in a lot of hard effort to do their first transcatheter aortic valve intervention and it is a milestone for them because it is one therapy which is recommended for all the patients who cannot undergo open heart surgery due to the increased risk due to frailty, for example, low body weights, people who are too old, people who have a lot of comorbidities,” he explained.
He emphasized that extensive planning was carried out with the cardiology team at PMGH to assess the patient’s specific needs regarding the valve, which contributed to the success of the procedure. He explained that the artificial valve, known as MyValve, is manufactured in India and that the selection of the valve depended on various factors, including the patient’s individual needs, heart morphology, and the type of valve being replaced, with the ultimate aim of providing the best possible treatment.
Dr Wesong Boko, Head of the Catheterisation Laboratory and an interventional cardiologist expressed that this procedure was a milestone and acknowledged the collaboration with Meril Life Sciences who made this possible.
“TAVI is the first of its kind in the country and a history in the making. It is step that no one thought we could take but we did that today and it was a successful procedure. As Papua New Guinea approaches its 50th anniversary, this achievement is something worth celebrating, as it was accomplished despite many challenges,” Dr. Boko stated.
Dr Boko highlighted that following the success of the first case, more cases would definitely follow as the team had picked up on skills and techniques and are looking forward to taking the lead in performing the procedures.
Currently, the patient is progressing well, with the cardiology team helping to plan his walking within 6 to 8 hours, and he is expected to be discharged in 24 to 48 hours.
This historic achievement was made possible through the purchase of the latest state-of-the-art Cannon Cath Lab Machine by the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited.
