- 50 year-old Saraswati Devi had 90 per cent blockade in her heart and was diabetic.
- Just before her heart bypass surgery commenced at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Devi had a cardiac arrest on the operation table itself.
- Her stopped beating for the next 20 minutes and her blood pressure dropped to zero.
- Without wasting a second, the doctors gave her heart massage for the next 20 minutes so that the heart does not stop pumping blood.
- According to Dr. S.N Khanna, even stopping for second showed a straight line in the heart monitor.
- In such a condition, the doctors were left with two choices: to go ahead with the surgery and inform her family or to perform the CABG on a still heart.
- But the doctors went ahead with the second option. After the cardiac massage, they prepared for the surgery.
- It took an extra 10 mins to then clean, intubate and open her rib cage to reach the heart.
- Devi had no blood supply to her brain for as long as 10 minutes which could have led to severe irreversible damage.
- It was only after she came to consciousness that the doctors realized that the surgery was successful.
Source: Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Media Update