Bangalore: 108-year-old man becomes world's oldest person to undergo angioplasty
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Feb 19: He is 108 and underwent angioplasty at the St John’s Medical College and Hospital, to become the oldest person in the world to undergo the surgery.
108-year-old Muniyappa, a resident of Narasapura in Kolar district, was admitted in the hospital following complaints of severe chest pain and breathlessness.
The medical team of the Hospital, which did the investigations, diagnosed Muniyappa as having suffered a mild heart attack. The angiogram showed a 90 % block in the heart’s main artery or the left anterior descending coronary artery and another 80 % block in the left circumflex coronary artery.
These blocks were life-threatening and the patient had significant chest pain, which used to limit his routine activities of daily living.
Hence, after much consideration and discussion with the patient and his children in view of his advanced age, it was decided to go ahead with the angioplasty.
A team lead by Dr Kiron Varghese, Professor and Head of Cardiology, performed the angioplasty on February 15.
The entire procedure went well and two platinum chromium drug eluting stents from Boston Scientific Company were implanted in his heart arteries, said a press release from the Hospital.
The patient is doing well after the procedure and is already walking about and is totally pain free, the press release said.
The oldest patients to undergo angioplasty previously, according to the press release, were at the age of 97 reported from Kolkata, a 91 year old from London and a 104 year old man from Noida, who underwent angioplasty in Delhi in 2013.
''There are no published reports of any patients older than 104 having going angioplasty in the world,” the press release claimed as said Muniyappa will thus be the oldest person in the world to undergo angioplasty at the age of 108.
With advance technology and skills, the press release said, it was possible to perform angioplasty at any age. With increased longevity of the human beings the world over, the incidence of elderly people undergoing angioplasty has gone up in recent years.
Elderly patients delay seeking treatment and have increased rates of atypical symptoms, non-diagnostic electro-cardiograms and multiple comorbidities.
''Despite these problems, evidence from the medical literature shows that Coronary Angioplasty is a viable treatment option for elderly patients and can save lives, and greatly enhance the quality of life,” the press release added.