Eminent surgeons from the prestigious Duke University Medical Centre will be visiting Yashoda Hospitals with their expert surgical team to perform Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy (PTE) surgeries for patients from India. Yashoda Hospitals will be initially conducting two to three surgeries in collaboration with surgeons from the US-based Duke University. The hospital will be continuing to perform more PTE surgeries after drawing complete knowledge of the procedure from the distinguished experts from the Duke University.

Duke University Medical Centre runs one of the largest PTE programme in the United States, treating several patients every year. The visiting surgeons are Dr Duane R Davis, Dr Lankala Chandrashekar Reddy along with distinguished anesthesiologist Dr Mark Stafford-Smith.

Dr G SRao, managing director, Yashoda Group of Hospitals informed, “Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a rare and a lethal condition which need highest expertise. To ensure the best we will see to it that our association with them will continue so that they can support us should we need their expertise on any complex PTE cases in the future. Through our distinctive partnership with Duke University surgeons we will be able to develop an in-depth understanding of this extremely complex surgery and provide CTEPH patients in India a chance of improved survival. The transplant surgeons from Duke University Medical Centre are pioneers in treating chronic thrombo-embolic disorder.”

Dr Duane R Davis, director, Transplant Services, Duke University, said, “We are pleased to collaborate with Yashoda Group to perform PTE procedures. Yashoda Group, we know, has been always at the forefront in delivering world-class healthcare using the most advanced techniques and technology. Very few hospitals perform PTE due to lack of required experience and expertise. This deprives all the CTEPH patients a chance of better survival. We are pleased to note that Yashoda Group is willing to perform these surgeries for the benefit of CTEPH patients in India.”

Dr Lankala Chandrashekar Reddy, transplant surgeon, Duke University Medical Center pointed out that PTE still remains an uncommon procedure in the world, partly due to the fact that CTEPH, even now is the most improperly diagnosed or an under-diagnosed condition. Usually patients suffering from CTEPH show signs of heart failure, shortness of breath or come in for heart stroke. Pulmonary embolisms are mis-diagnosed very frequently. It usually is not diagnosed until a person is referred for pulmonary hypertension or lung transplant.