When 54-year-old Vivekanandhan was brought to Apollo Hospitals’ OMR facility with difficulty in breathing on April 13, little did he think he could be suffering from heart failure.
Even as he underwent investigations, his heart started collapsing and doctors had to administer electric shock to revive him.
Triple valve disease
The cardiologist discovered a blood clot and diagnosed that he suffered from triple valve disease. “They said there was a blood clot in my heart and that I needed a bypass. A week after the surgery I became normal,” he said.
Cardiologist E.D. Arul said Vivekanandhan had suffered a heart attack in 2009 and was on medication. “For some time he had neglected his medication which resulted in breathing difficulty,” Dr. Arul explained.
Vivekanandhan’s left ventricle had an aneurysm and the muscles could not pump blood. As a result of this, a huge clot had formed. He had suffered myocardiac infarction and the only option was having a transplant. He was referred to D. Janardhana Reddy, chief cardiovascular surgeon at Apollo’s Vanagaram unit. Not only did Dr. Reddy perform bypass surgery, but with his experience in septal valve repair, he ‘patched up’ the damaged left ventricle, allowing free flow of blood.
