In a pioneering effort, the cardiologists at Manipal Heart Foundation have treated a patient suffering with "Rupture of Sinus of Valsalva" (RSOV). The procedure was performed non-surgically using the Amplatzer device.

The procedure was performed on a 12-year old patient Tarannum from a village near Chitradurga, who was admitted at the Manipal Tumkur Hospital, because of breathing difficulty and cough. She was diagnosed with RSOV and was referred to Dr V Subhash Chandra, head, cardiology, Manipal Heart Foundation who performed the procedure along with Dr Padma Kumar, Dr Jayranganath and Dr Purushottam.

Generally, patients with RSOV undergo surgery using heart-lung bypass machine, but during an emergency, the surgical procedure has high mortality rates. The alternative of deploying Amplatzer device, a non-surgical procedure conducted in catheterization labs, has been tried elsewhere in the world on an elective basis only. It is only the second time in India that this procedure has been successfully attempted after GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi.

Amplatzer is generally meant for closing of the ASD and PDAs, which are very common conditions. RSOV is a rare condition where the cusp of the aorta weakens and it ruptures into the other chambers of the heart. Patients develop heart failure and increased pressure in the lungs. In these conditions patients generally are treated using the surgical methods.

The procedure was done like any other catheterization with a small prick in the right groin. The deployment of the device and the procedure took 25 minutes. Immediately after the procedure the child’s haemodynamic condition improved dramatically. Few hours after the procedure, the kidney function improved and came to normalcy within 24 hours.

The procedure would have usually cost around Rs.75,000/-but going by the socio-economic status of the patient, the hospital cut down the cost to the parent with the help of voluntary funding conditions.