In a rare surgery, doctors at a city hospital implanted pacemaker on a 102-year-old woman from Panipat.
This is the first ever reported case of implant on a woman aged 102 years in India, claimed the hospital adding that the surgery was performed in a record time of less than 20 minutes.
The earlier two surgeries have been on 105-year-old men, performed at PGI, Chandigarh and Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow.
The patient, Maya Devi had suffered a stroke and had collapsed at home in Panipat following a condition where her pulse rate had dipped down to 30. The normal rate is 65-80 beats per minute, said Dr Aparna Jaswal, senior consultant in the Department of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.
She was rushed to the emergency at Fortis where she was underwent surgery which involved inserting passive leads into the heart through a blood vessel running under the collarbone. The passive leads are tested to make ensure they are functional and attached to a generator.
"Given the patient's age, we had to ensure that the time on the operation theatre table during the surgery is as less as possible. Additional care was also taken in choosing the hardware so that the patient of this age can withstand the surgery. We put in passive leads and implanted an MRI compatible pacemaker for any further medical interventions that may be required," explained Jaswal.
What contributed immensely in this patient was that she had no comorbid conditions, no diabetes or hypertension, making it rare phenomena for her age. She is ready to be discharged, said Jaswal.
Dr Riaz Ahmad Malik, Senior Anaesthesiologist said that at such an age there are chances of patient failing to withstand the effect of the anaesthesia, leading to a multiple organ failure and thus extra care had to be taken.
"We are thankful to the doctors for saving the life of my great grandmother. As a fourth generation, we are fortunate to have a great grandmother in our family and are blessed with her presence," said Devi's great grand son Sazal Dua.
Devi has three sons, who in turn have 11 children. She is great grandmother to 13 kids.
