Mumbai: Multiple clots around his heart saved a 32-year-old man, who was brought to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Andheri, with a stab injury that had damaged the main artery.
The man, Darpan Gharat, was accidentally stabbed in a brawl.
Dr Nandkishore Kapadia, head of the adult cardiac surgery and director, heart and lung transplant service at the hospital, who attended Darpan Gharat in the emergency care said, “He was brought in a critical state and was losing blood due to the wound in his chest. His CT scan showed that the left side of the chest had a lot of blood clots around the heart. His left lung was injured and collapsed.”
Kapadia added that once they took him up for the bypass surgery, they found the object had cut into two main chambers of his heart (left and right ventricle) and the front portion of the heart was not functioning.
“He reached the hospital 12 hours after the incident. Gharat’s artery was cut into two pieces and there were multiple clots on it, partly sealing the hole. Around 1.5 litre of blood was removed from around the heart and around 1 litre from the chest. Controlling the bleeding timely was a priority, which was done by repairing the holes in both main pumping chambers of the heart, using a synthetic material with the help of the sutures,” he said.
Kapadia added that the multiple clots around his heart saved him from excessive blood loss.
Gharat was on the ventilator for two days and then was shifted to the ICU where he started improving slowly but the heart failure was still there. Post-ventilation, he was given external oxygen and medications to improve his heart function.
According to the medical literature, only 10-12% of patients with such an injury to the heart have a chance to survive after emergency surgery. The hospital plans to present the case to a medical journal. Gharat, who was discharged on November 22, after twelve days of hospitalisation, came for the first follow on Monday.
“It was an unfortunate incident. I accidentally got stabbed and fell unconscious within seconds. My family never thought I would survive. It is a miracle,” said Gharat.