In what may be a first for the country, Delhi-based surgeons have exploited laser and patient’s own stem cells to repair a critically damaged heart, which would not have been mended otherwise.

The surgery was performed on 65 year-old Vijay K Mittal on August 29 after the doctors found multiple blockages in his heart. For his type of conditions, coronary bypass or angioplasty is not a suitable option. 
The team leader, Dr Naresh Trehan from Apollo Hospital, decided to try the new technique. He claimed that this procedure was used only on 20 odd patients in the Europe in the last six months.

Considered as a “research trial”, the surgery was performed after getting an approval from the hospital’s own ethics committee. The team intimated the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as well.

“The patient is responding well. But a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, to be carried out after 20 weeks, can only tell whether sufficient number of new blood vessels have been formed or not,” Dr Trehan said.  
He claimed that while he was using lasers in heart surgeries since 1992-93, his team began using a patient’s own stem cells — called autologous stem cells — in surgeries since 2006.

Though the use of laser for the creation of new blood vessels is a standard surgical practice, the Apollo surgeons have given the patient a shot of his own stem cells, hoping for an improved outcome. The stem cells were collected from the patient’s own bone marrow.

Using a standard YAG laser, the surgeons created 20 channels in the heart. Subsequently, they injected one cubic centimetre of stem cell on the other side of the channel.

Since stem cells can develop into any kind of cells, the surgeons hope that the new procedure will lead to the creation of fresh blood vessels for better transportation of blood. The stem cells are taken from the patient’s own body because of which there is no chance of rejection, he said, adding that the surgery costs around Rs two lakh.