Chandigarh, (Gurpreet): A 44 year old man from Manali in HP got a new lease of life after he was treated successfully with latest endovascular techniques for recurrent massive blood clots at Ivy Hospital, Mohali recently.
Surjit Singh was in a serious condition as he had developed a large clot in his leg which was dislodged and migrated to his lung causing a lung infarct, said Dr Harinder Singh Bedi head of cardio vascular endovascular & thoracic surgery at Ivy .
He further informed that the patient had developed severe bleeding from his lungs which was not controlled with medical therapy.
On examination and investigation the patient was found with clots in the legs a deep venous thrombosis DVT, which had escaped and entered his lung causing a pulmonary embolism (PE) and an infarct.
His lung functions were very low and any further pulmonary embolism would have been potentially fatal. In view of the intractable bleeding he could not undergo the usual procedure called catheter directed thrombolysis (CDT) with a strong blood thinner – tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), said Dr Bedi.
So the only option was to remove the clot with a new advancement in technology called a Penumbra Indigo catheter.
At the same time to stop further clots from reaching the lungs, a filter called IVC filter was placed in the main vein to trap any small clots and prevent them from entering the lungs.
According to Dr Bedi, a defect in our clotting system though rare, is potentially fatal . As it is a chronic venous disease is quite common in India as most of our population works in the standing position, leading to pressure on the veins which dilate, said Dr Bedi.