The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Workshop on closure of heart defects held

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Friday, Oct 06, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Workshop on closure of heart defects held

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: A workshop on "Device closure of atrial septal defects and ventricular septal defects" (hole in the heart) was organised by the Department of Cardiology of the Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital at Perambur on Thursday.

Eight children, referred from all zones of the Railways, had their heart defects closed by the device, which has been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States of America.

The device consists of a mesh of wires, made of nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium and a double disc, which is fitted correctly to close the hole in the heart. Through a small needle puncture in the groin, a painless exercise, the device is taken to the heart under fluoroscopic monitoring and the defect is closed even as the patient is fully awake.

As a result of the procedure, a major surgery to close heart defects is avoided. The patient needs only a few hours of hospitalisation and there are no operative scars.

The cost of the device is more than the surgery cost. Cardiologists at the hospital have been closing defects in the heart over the years successfully with the help of the device.

According to senior cardiologists, G. Sudarsana and A.G. Narayanaswamy, the workshop mainly focussed on closing very large heart defects.

The Cardiology department also caters to non-railway patients on payment basis, according to a railway press release.

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