Cherian Heart Foundation are the frontrunners in Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy

Frontier Lifeline Hospital &Dr K M Cherian Heart Foundation are the frontrunners in Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy

·         India’s first Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) was done in 2010 under supervision of Dr KM Cherian with a team led by Dr Prashant Vaijyanath

·         First valve TAVI in India was done in 2015 by Dr Rajaram Anantharaman at Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Chennai for a failed Bioprosthetic Aortic valve

·         Recently in March 2019, South India’s first transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation was done by Dr Rajaram Anantharaman & Dr Raghavan Subramanian under the supervision of Dr KM Cherian

Frontier Lifeline Hospital &Dr KM Cherian Heart Foundation, headed by the pioneer of pediatric cardiac surgery in India- Dr KM Cherian is leading the way in Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy in the country through its breakthrough surgeries. Transcatheter heart valve therapy also known as as percutaneous valve implantation has been proven a lower risk alternative to surgery in otherwise high risk or inoperable patients.

In the recent past, south India’s first transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (TPVI) by Dr Rajaram Anantharaman &Dr Raghavan Subramanian at St Gregarious Cardiovascular Centre, Parumala, Kerala was done under the supervision of Dr K M Cherian on 16^th March 2019. Today, at Frontier Lifeline hospital, the young 24-year-old patient on whom this procedure was performed had come down to Chennai for his check-up. He also shared his experience of undergoing this surgery and thanked Dr Cherian for the diagnosis.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr KM Cherian, Chairman & CEO-Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Founder – Frontier Mediville said, “Studies show that transcatheter valve replacement procedures are safe in all patients affected by severe valve disease and pose a lower threat than surgery. Currently the cost of these valves is highly expensive in India (15-20 lacs), owing to which this technology is scarcely available in the nation. The solution here is to indigenously produce these valves here in the country at affordable rates, so that this life saving technology is available for those in need. At Dr K M Cherian Heart Foundation, Frontier Medivelle Science Park, phase 2 research is underway for the same.”

Further talking about the subject, Dr Rajaram Anantharaman, Senior Consultant, Frontier Lifeline Hospital said, “People with congenital heart disease or structural heart disease undergo multiple cardiac surgeries in their lifetime to restore or improve pulmonary blood flow, which also results in many health complications for the patients. With minimally invasive technology such as Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy, a lot has changed. Most patients are able to return home the following day without the prolonged recovery period that follows conventional open-heart surgery. Both short- and long-term outcomes appear to be promising with freedom from intervention over 90% at 1 year and a major complication rate of less than 3%.”

In India under the supervision of Dr K M Cherian the first transcatheter aortic valve implantation was done in 2010 by team led by Dr Prashant Vaijyanath along with the first South Asian Transcatheter Valve workshop on 24^th April 2010. The first valve in valve TAVI in India was performed in 2015 by Dr Rajaram Anantharaman at Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Chennai for a failed Bioprosthetic Aortic valve.