Written by Praveen shetty(son)
I am writing on behalf of my mother Chandravathi Shetty. She had a CABG 15 months ago , unfortunately she started getting radiating pain, starting from left hand till left jaw. Initial tests such as ECG , ECHO turned up fine .
Later, we did a CT angio of heart and that revealed blocked grafts to two arteries. We went ahead and did the angiogram elsewhere and it revealed that it’s CTO (Chronic Total Occlusion) of right coronary artery. The Cardiologist advised angioplasty of the right coronary artery. Same was attempted but the wire could not cross the blocked artery.Doctor suggested medical management and that is the best option.However my mother continued to have intermittent pain as before despite numerous medications.
I took the same angiogram report to the best of the names for heart operation in Bangalore and in Ahmedabad too. Also was in touch with a doctor in Washington USA about how to deal with such situation. All responses recommended a medical management and it’s risky to do angioplasty since she is a 62 year old lady with Type 2 Diabetes mellitus and has already undergone bypass surgery just 15 months back.
Finally I took a flight to Bangalore again and met Dr. Sreekanth Shetty, Senior Consultant & Head - Interventional Cardiology, at Sakra world hospital.
He gave me confidence, when I consulted with reports only. He just said “don’t stress yourself, I think it’s doable”.
Chronic Total Occlusion Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (CTO PCI) is a minimally invasive technique used to treat my mother with chronic total occlusion (CTO), or complete blockages, of the coronary arteries. In my mother’s case its been present for more than an year or so. With this situation she had chest pain (angina), shortness of breath even when at rest.
I am happy for the responsibility he took, when many others backed off for the same and suggested only medical management.
Dr. Sreekanth Shetty, is equipped with great diagnosis capability, and a right approach towards treatment, because of his calmness and cool composure. He explained me about how it was done and how he could pass through and put the stent where there was 100% block.
Within 24 hours my mother told the doctor that she feels the comfort in her chest which was not there before, and she told the doctor that “She re-lived again”.
