Bangalore, 29 September 2021: In order to promote a healthy heart lifestyle, raise awareness on the incidence of heart disease and also help younger children suffering from heart problems, Aster RV Hospital began its ‘Heart to Heart’ campaign in association with its global CSR arm, Aster Volunteers, here today. As a part of the campaign, the hospital introduced the ‘Heart to Heart Walks’, a contest where people are encouraged to walk for a minimum of one hour every day to contribute towards a good cause. For every 10,000 steps that a participant takes, Aster Volunteers will donate an amount of Rs. 100 towards a child’s heart surgery. Eminent cardiologist Dr. BG Baliga along with the cardiac care team of Aster RV Hospital including Dr. S Venkatesh, Dr. Divya Marina Fernandes, and Dr. R.S Karthik were present at the event.

The contest will run from the 29^th of September till the 8^th of October and interested participants can register at https://heart2heart.astervolunteers.com/. Steps will be tracked through various fitness devices of the participants’ choice.

In order to mark the occasion of World Heart Day, Aster RV Hospital also launched its hypertension clinic, a comprehensive and dedicated treatment facility that will counsel patients on the prevention of hypertension, early identification, and proper management of hypertensive symptoms in patients. This will include a heart efficiency package, a unique heart evaluation through which interested patients will undergo a series of medical tests to get a thorough heart-healthy profile to determine their risk of suffering from a heart attack.

The campaign began with a 1-hour long walkathon starting from Aster RV Hospital and culminated at Dhanvantri park with Dr. Divya Marina Fernandes and Dr. R.S Karthik educating the audience on the importance of having a healthy heart in today’s day and age, the risk factors that are leading to early heart issues in people today and the simple ways in which one can monitor their heart health and keep themselves healthy.

“India stands ahead of western countries in terms of its heart disease burden with India being the hypertension capital of the world. Intensive efforts are required to make people more aware of their heart health at an early age and take steps to maintain their heart health early. According to the Global Burden of Disease study, CVDs hit Indians a decade earlier than the western population. With the launch of these initiatives, we aim to change lifestyle habits in society that has led to this heart crisis. It is an honor to be part of the launch campaign here today,” said Dr. BG Baliga, Senior Consultant Cardiologist.

Created by the World Heart Federation, World Heart Day aims to spread awareness about cardiovascular disease (including heart disease and stroke). It claims 18.6 million lives per year globally and is found to be the leading cause of death around the world. In 2021, it has become particularly important to understand the causes of CVD and how to improve one’s health.

“It has become increasingly common for us to see patients burdened with stress, anxiety, combined with unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, overconsumption of alcohol, poor diet and lack of exercise, succumbing to heart attacks, developing hypertension or other heart ailments, majorly due to lifestyle factors. These can be controlled at an early age,” said Dr. S Venkatesh, Lead Consultant – Cardiology, Aster RV Hospital

The post Aster RV Hospital launches ‘Heart to Heart’ campaign to help paediatric heart surgery appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.

As we are still in the throes of the global severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), its impact on the lungs and different organs of the body is a real cause of concern. Although the clinical symptoms of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), are primarily respiratory, several cardiac problems have also been observed in patients during Covid and its recovery. This is not particularly surprising as the heart and lungs both work in tangent with each other to provide oxygen-rich blood to various parts of the body. Damage to one organ can invariably have a domino effect on the heart as well, although there are several factors that contribute to this.

In order to fight the Covid-19 virus, inflammation in the body is an expected immune response. Excessive and prolonged inflammation (called cytokine storm) affects the heart, weakens heart muscles, and can lead to fluid build-up. While the Covid-19 infection by itself can invariably affect the heart, the treatment protocol required to defeat Covid-19 could cause blood clots in the arteries, which are usually managed by the medical team. Direct viral myocardial damage, hypoxia, hypotension, elevated inflammatory state, ACE2-receptor downregulation, drug toxicity, and acute myocarditis, acute heart failure, and arrhythmias appear to be among the cardiac symptoms. Elderly people and people with pre-existing heart conditions are even more susceptible to suffering from heart-related incidents triggered by Covid-19. For proper triage and management of these patients, a thorough knowledge of the hemodynamic and diagnostic implications is required.

Heart patients with or without Covid must be cautious about the following symptoms and seek medical help immediately if they experience any of these –  

• Pain or pressure in the chest while performing any activity
• Arm weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Facial drooping on one side of the face
• Changes in speech, such as unclear or confused speech, visual impairment
• Extensive headache
• Breathing difficulties or shortness of breath at night
• Swelling in the legs
• Dizziness, fainting, or passing out

Self-care for heart patients is more important than ever during the pandemic. People must take precautions to protect themselves from the Covid infection itself, keep their heart as healthy as possible, and address any unusual signs or symptoms of heart dysfunction, particularly if they have recovered from Covid. The following are some basic tips –

1. Continue to take regular heart medications as prescribed and eat meals that are good for your heart. Reduce carbohydrates, especially refined carbs in the diet. Balanced meal plans are beneficial.
2. Keep an eye out for any existing problems and for any new symptoms or anomalies. Do not avoid visiting the doctor – if you experience any of the above symptoms, seek help immediately. Many people are prolonging doctor visits when they experience symptoms and reach the hospital late.
3. Pay attention to physical and mental health – monitor weight, avoid taking on too much stress, and find healthy ways to cope if you are dealing with stress or weight issues
4. Breathing exercises, yoga, meditation is good for the heart
5. It is recommended to take frequent breaks from sitting to promote blood circulation, stretch your legs by going outside, and stick to your regular workout program as much as possible.
6. Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep every night to get enough rest.
7. Don’t smoke or consume excessive amounts of alcohol
8.  Get regular health screenings to stay updated about your heart health

The post World Heart Day 2021: Heart patients must be cautious of the Covid-19 virus appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.

A 78-year-old woman suffering from a faulty mitral valve in the heart recently underwent a Non-surgical Transcatheter Mitral valve-in-valve Replacement procedure (TMVR) at Aster RV Hospital, giving her a new lease of life. Previously, two such procedures have been conducted in Karnataka, making this only the third of its kind in the state. The incidence of heart valve disease increases significantly with age affecting the longevity as well as the quality of life for elderly patients. Transcatheter valve replacement procedures have come up on the medical horizon as a boon to some of these patients who are deemed unfit for open-heart surgery.

In this instance, the patient Lalitha (name changed) had already undergone open-heart surgery for a leaking mitral valve in 2013. A prosthetic tissue valve was implanted during that operation. Over the last few years, unfortunately, the surgically implanted valve had degenerated and was leaking, leading to debilitating symptoms. By the time she consulted the doctors at Aster RV Hospital in January 2021, she had already developed symptoms of heart failure –characterized by severe shortness of breath, swelling of her feet, and difficulty in carrying out her day-to-day activities. A detailed medical examination revealed that a second open-heart surgery to change this artificial valve would be of very high risk to the frail patient due to her age and the severity of her symptoms.

The Heart Team at the Aster RV hospital comprising of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and cardiac anesthetists decided that replacing the valve non-surgically through a Transcatheter Mitral valve-in-valve procedure (TMVR) is far less risky and relatively safer. In this procedure, a new prosthetic valve is placed within the earlier failed prosthetic valve non-surgically.

“We successfully carried out a Transcatheter Mitral Valve-in-valve (V-in-v) implantation of Edwards Sapien 3 valve through a small incision in the vein in the patient’s thigh. The procedure was done under short general anesthesia and the patient came out of anesthesia in the Cath lab just after the procedure. She recovered quickly, walked home after 4 days, and has recovered fully now. Trans-catheter valve procedures are available in India only in recent years and can be beneficial, particularly for older patients as it is possible to perform otherwise high-risk procedures without resorting to open-heart surgery and the results are very good,” said Dr. S. Venkatesh, Lead Consultant, Interventional Cardiology, Aster RV Hospital. “Therefore, these can be of great value in treating elderly, high-risk patients as well as those who have undergone prior heart operations,” he added. While transcatheter procedures are far more common for the aortic valve, they can also be useful for mitral valves and like in this case, previously implanted degenerated heart valves.

Incidentally, the first transcatheter Aortic valve-in-valve procedure in Karnataka state was also performed by the cardiac team at Aster RV hospital.

The post Aster RV Hospital conducts rare Transcatheter Mitral valve-in-valve implantation on 78 year old patient appeared first on PuneDiary.Com.