Mauritius: The Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has successfully been performed on Mauritian patients, stated the Director of Cardiac Centre, Dr Sunil Gunness, yesterday at the Cardiac Centre, Trust Fund for Specialised Medical Care, in Pamplemousses.
TAVI is a new technique currently being introduced to Mauritian surgeons by a team of nine cardiologists from the United States of America (USA) currently in Mauritius for one week and led by the Interventional Cardiologist Dr Kapildeo Lotun.
In a statement, Dr Gunness lauded the USA and Mauritian teams for their fruitful collaboration as regards the performance of the Heart Valve Implantation Procedures (minimally invasive) on Mauritian patients. He pointed out that a person suffering from severe Aortic stenosis has to perform open heart surgery while highlighting that persons already suffering from severe health conditions cannot undergo the same.
TAVI, emphasised Dr Gunness, does not require any surgery, and the outcomes are the same as open heart surgery, and this, according to him, will be highly beneficial for the population. He also reaffirmed the vision of the Cardiac Centre to continue to introduce new techniques so as to upgrade and enhance health services while keeping pace with the latest development.
For his part, Dr Lotun stated that he is pleased to collaborate with the Cardiac Centre and introduce TAVI in Mauritius. With this technique, he underlined, the patients are ambulatory the next day and are discharged within three days. He further indicated that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between the Carondelet St Mary’s Hospital and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to further reinforce the professional growth of the Mauritian surgeons.
Following its intervention at the Cardiac Centre, the team led by Dr Lotun paid a courtesy call to the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, in Port-Louis.
In a statement, Minister Jagutpal said that his Ministry will fully support any collaboration from Dr Lotun’s team in terms of exchange and expertise with the view to offer the best health care to the population. He recalled that the first open heart surgery was performed in 1984, but that techniques are now evolving. TAVI will thus upgrade the health services and be more beneficial to the population, he added.
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