Novel technique used to remove artery blockages in Jodhpur heart patient

Doctors at a government hospital here said they have removed blockages in the arteries of an 80-year-old heart patient by using a novel technique introduced in India recently.

This is the first time the technique, called Intravascular Shock Wave Lithotripsy, has been used to carry out the procedure in any government hospital in Northern India, the doctors said.

According to Sanjeev Sanghvi, Heads of Department (Cardiology), MDM Hospital in Jodhpur is one of the few hospitals in India, which have used the technique so far.

Sanghvi said the patient, Chandra Shekhar Bohra, was hospitalised on February 6 with a complaint of chest pain while walking.

"When we examined the patient, we found three blockages in his coronary arteries after angiography scans, but there were multiple limitations barring us to administer either the angioplasty or the by-pass surgery as all these blockages were calcified," said Sanghvi.

Coronary arteries are the blood vessels which transport oxygenated blood to ...