In 2003, Mr Venkatakrishniah, a 54-year-old Indian diabetic patient, suffered a heart attack. After the bypass surgery, his condition worsened and he could not walk beyond 6 steps. As such, he had to quit his job as an engineer at a state-owned Power Transmission Corporation because he was unable to work.
Under the guidance of a team of US experts from the University of Minnesota, a group of surgeons at Bangalore's Narayana Hrudayalaya implanted in him a ventricular assist device called Ventrassist (Left Ventricular Assist Device) in a four-hour operation on March 20, 2008.
Narayana Hrudayalaya, set up in 2001, was situated in Bangalore. The hospital is well known for its excellence and is one of the world’s largest Pediatric heart hospitals. Two of the surgeons who performed the operation had flown earlier to the University of Minnesota for 3-month training.
After the operation, Mr Venkatakrishniah revealed in an interview that he can now walk, and even climb stairs, and he is planning to work again.
What is Ventrassist? It is a device, 60 mm in diameter and weighs 298 g, is implanted in the lower part of the chest, just below the heart. In order for it to function, an external battery has to be connected to the device by a cable and the battery has to be recharged every 4 hours. Ventrassist is being manufactured by an Australian based company and is a new third generation implantable blood pump designed as an alternative to heart transplantation to people with heart failure.
Normal heart transplants, which may be out of reach for many patients because of the limited number of donor organs available. Furthermore, whether the donor organs are suitable for patients also pose a problem. In India, millions of people suffer heart failure and each year many die in absence of donors.
For the past 8 years, surgeons in the United States and Europe have already implanted such “new-generation” artificial hearts in 220 patients. Bangalore’s operation was the 221st of its kind but it also marked the first in Asia.
Ventrassist used in the Bangalore’s operation cost about 3.4 million rupees, which is certainly not cheap for the patient. Nevertheless, the hospital costs, which added up to about 600,000 rupees in Mr Venkatakrishniah's case, were waived. Despite the high cost, the hospital has already received inquiries from more than 100 patients in India and overseas since the operation.
More information about the Bangalore's operation may be viewed at
Under the guidance of a team of US experts from the University of Minnesota, a group of surgeons at Bangalore's Narayana Hrudayalaya implanted in him a ventricular assist device called Ventrassist (Left Ventricular Assist Device) in a four-hour operation on March 20, 2008.
Narayana Hrudayalaya, set up in 2001, was situated in Bangalore. The hospital is well known for its excellence and is one of the world’s largest Pediatric heart hospitals. Two of the surgeons who performed the operation had flown earlier to the University of Minnesota for 3-month training.
After the operation, Mr Venkatakrishniah revealed in an interview that he can now walk, and even climb stairs, and he is planning to work again.
What is Ventrassist? It is a device, 60 mm in diameter and weighs 298 g, is implanted in the lower part of the chest, just below the heart. In order for it to function, an external battery has to be connected to the device by a cable and the battery has to be recharged every 4 hours. Ventrassist is being manufactured by an Australian based company and is a new third generation implantable blood pump designed as an alternative to heart transplantation to people with heart failure.
Normal heart transplants, which may be out of reach for many patients because of the limited number of donor organs available. Furthermore, whether the donor organs are suitable for patients also pose a problem. In India, millions of people suffer heart failure and each year many die in absence of donors.
For the past 8 years, surgeons in the United States and Europe have already implanted such “new-generation” artificial hearts in 220 patients. Bangalore’s operation was the 221st of its kind but it also marked the first in Asia.
Ventrassist used in the Bangalore’s operation cost about 3.4 million rupees, which is certainly not cheap for the patient. Nevertheless, the hospital costs, which added up to about 600,000 rupees in Mr Venkatakrishniah's case, were waived. Despite the high cost, the hospital has already received inquiries from more than 100 patients in India and overseas since the operation.
More information about the Bangalore's operation may be viewed at
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