In what is claimed as a challenging procedure, a team of doctors from a city hospital performed angioplasty on a 97 year old woman to save her from heart attack and subsequent heart failure.

Chairman of the KG Hospital G. Bakthavathsalam, told Covai Post that she could be perhaps the oldest to undergo stenting at Coimbatore. Vanita Bai who stays at Kovaipudur was independently doing her household chores until when she developed severe pain in the chest. As her son was away in Bangalore, her neighbour one Vijayakumar rushed her to the Hospital.

G Bakthavathsalam said that the nonagenarian was admitted to the critical care facility in just about two hours of developing pain and was then taken to the Cathlab. “A catheter was introduced into the heart and the blockages in blood vessels supplying blood to the heart muscle were indentified. The blocked portion of the artery was dilated by a balloon and this followed by placement of ‘drug eluting stent.’

As the blocks were relieved, the heart started pumping normally. She was relieved of her pain totally. Even at the age of 97, post angioplasty, her vitals were sharp and she recognized the doctors, nurses and her relatives including 6 children, 11 grand children and 21 great grand children.

The prompt team had enabled angioplasty procedure within the window period of three hours and saved her life.