Karnataka government's cardiac care centre, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, has announced a cheaper way to treat rheumatic mitral valve disease. The mitral valve is a two-cusped valve between the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart. The hospital has invested in purchasing the heat spray pencil used in this new technique is available at low cost whereas the imported equipment costs nothing less than Rs. 40 lakh.

The new procedure is called as the 'Cautery-based Jayadeva technique' and nearly 130 patients have benefited from this treatment so far. Cautery means applying heat and sources from the hospital did not want to divulge details of the price of the equipment.

According to Dr. A N Prabhudeva, director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology the cost effective procedure and indigenous technique became popular when a German chief surgeon Dr. Joachim Lass from the Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases at Bad Bavensen, Germany conducted two surgeries using special equipment and he later taught the procedure to doctors here.

"Some of the typical symptoms of this rheumatic heart mitral valve disease include a racing heart fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath and anxiety, said Dr. Prabhudeva. "A person may appear normal and yet suffer from this silently," he added.

On its own atrial fibrillation is life threatening can led to severe secondary diseases such as paralysis, gangrene etc. It could also lead to clots that could even affect the brain. The condition usually affects older people and highest incidence is among men. The irregularity of the heart beat is accompanied by high blood pressure, cardiac insuffiency or lung complaints, informed Dr. Prabhudeva.

In order to treat the condition, the mitral valve is replaced with an artificial valve and surgical ablation is conducted and during the process heat is used as a medium to cut or burn the tracts, explained Dr. Prabhudeva.

Doctors at Jayadeva gave up the idea of importing expensive equipment for treating the condition as was done earlier so that they could cut costs. The technique is used popularly abroad requires ablation equipment, which is using heat energy as a spray to burn the bleeding blood vessels and patients stay in hospital is less than a week, he said.