SSKM turns saviour for elderly patient
Kolkata: For the first time in the history of any government hospital, SSKM Hospital installed the most advanced and one of the most expensive pacemakers on a patient, made possible thanks to the robust health service schemes introduced in the state by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Md Asik Alam (66) had his pacemaker infected for two consecutive times and the doctors had no option other than implanting a leadless pacemaker on the right ventricle of his heart. Alam and his family members became reluctant after they came to know that a leadless pacemaker would cost them around Rs 10 lakh in top private hospitals in the city. There was no other option except the installation of a leadless pacemaker on the wall of the right ventricle to save the life of the elderly patient, who is a resident of Berhampore in Murshidabad. SSKM Hospital turned saviour for the patient and the operation was conducted free of cost.
A leadless pacemaker is a small self-contained device looking almost like a capsule that is inserted in the right ventricle of the heart. According to the doctors at SSKM, a pacemaker had been installed on the right side of Alam's chest by a private hospital in the city around eight years ago.
After six years, the pacemaker got infected and the patient was brought to the hospital, where the doctors mounted another pacemaker on the left side of his chest. But the patient developed similar complications as the second one also got infected. A team comprising doctors from both the Cardiology and Cardiothoracic and Vascular surgery (CTVS) departments conducted the operation.
"This is the first time a government-run hospital has implanted a leadless pacemaker on a patient completely free of cost. It has become possible due to the comprehensive healthcare system launched by the state government. Poor people are being benefitted by the schemes," said a senior cardiologist at SSKM.
The doctors also said that this is a late infection. Generally infection develops within 1-2 years from the date of operation. But in this case, the pacemaker got infected years later. In a conventional pacemaker, the pulse generator is connected to the right atrium and right ventricle through leads in case of a dual chamber pacemaker. While in case of single chamber pacemaker, the leads are connected either to the right atrium or the right ventricle.
The patient has already been released from the hospital and is doing fine, doctors said.
