Italian surgeon lauds state of
Indian heart surgery
Rome: Italy could benefit from
cooperation with India in the field of heart surgery, according to a top doctor
who performed a pioneering operation in Rome to fit a patient with the latest
artificial heart.
"Some 200 fewer heart transplants
are being carried out in Italy each year, a figure that is comparable to other
countries," Francesco Musumeci said.
"We need to react," said Musumeci,
who is head of heart surgery and the Lazio region's transplant unit at Rome's
San Camillo Hospital.
Musumeci recently returned from India,
where he said he found many aspects of the country's medical facilities to be
"excellent". "Even if the health system is private, it has made
enormous strides and in some cases the infracture is technologically superior
to ours," said Musumeci.
"The Indians are interested in
what we are doing in Italy, in how we work and how we tackle medicine's
challenges.
"It is a country we could work
together with profitably on joint projects and to share knowledge." In
late November, Musumeci and his team fitted the first Heart Mate 3 artificial
heart in an operation on a patient with a serious congenital heart defect. By
the end of the year, four patients will be fitted with the life-prolonging
device while they wait on the donor list, he said.
Given the ageing population and a
shortage of donors, artificial hearts are playing an increasingly important
role in the treatment of heart disease, as patients wait longer for
transplants.
Latest generation devices are around
4-5 centimetres in diametre, a fraction of the size of earlier models, meaning
the operation to fit them is far less invasive than previously and they are also
easier to recharge. The latest devices also give rise to fewer complications
than earlier models and can be worn by patients for several years while they
await a heart transplant.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com
19.12.2015
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