Dr. Atanu Saha and team of doctors at RTIICS Kolkata achieved a rare feat by giving a new lease of life to a 36 yr old Mr. Ujjal Biswas suffering from Aortic Dissection, through a 16 hour long critical surgery.

Aortic Dissection is a rare cardiac condition which affects 5 in a million and has a mortality rate of 75%. This is a serious condition where aorta - the major cardiac artery splits, leading to risk of massive blood loss and death due to subsequent rupture. Emergency surgery is the only option to restore the dissected aorta.

Mr. Ujjal Biswas from North 24 Parganas, West Bengal was admitted with severe chest and abdominal pain. Diagnosed of Aortic Dissection he was scheduled for an emergency surgery and was operated upon within a few hours. In his case the aortic dissection (split in the aorta) was found to be extending into the right coronary artery (artery supplying the heart) and three major branches of the arch of the aorta which supplies blood to both sides of the brain and arms, thereby increasing the risk of compromised blood flow to the heart & brain. In a technically challenging surgery, the surgeons bypassed the dissected segment of the right coronary artery with saphenous vein harvested from the leg and replaced the entire arch of the aorta as well the aortic root. As per the initial plan the surgery would have lasted for 6-8 hours but due to certain life threatening detections during the course of procedure, entire arch of the aorta as well the aortic root was replaced.

During the entire procedure the patient’s body temperature was cooled to 18°C and special perfusion techniques were used to protect blood supply to the brain. Owing to the arduous but successful operation the patient was back on his feet within 48 hours and is recovering well with the compassionate care of the RTIICS doctors and the paramedical staff.