• A team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad performed a life-threatening triple valve replacement on a 48-year-old woman
• Redo valve replacement surgeries are extremely challenging since they often pose a higher risk to the patient’s life during and post-surgery

A team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad, led by Dr Utpal Shah, Senior Consultant, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, performed a life-threatening triple valve replacement on a 48-year-old woman. The high-risk surgery involved a redo mitral valve replacement, a redo tricuspid valve replacement, and an aortic valve replacement. Redo valve replacement surgeries are extremely challenging since they often pose a higher risk to the patient’s life during and post-surgery.

The 48-year-old patient first got a mitral valve replacement and tricuspid valve repair surgery done 21 years back.  She first consulted doctors at Apollo Hospitals in 2021, with complaints of excessive fatigue, swelling in her legs & face, and ascites. The experts ran certain diagnostic tests which were all indicative of issues in the tricuspid valve and also severely dysfunctional prosthetic Mitral valve function and moderate Aortic valve disease. Based on the patient’s health condition, Dr Shah suggested a redo triple valve replacement.

At first, the patient was hesitant due to the high risk involved in the surgery, but after two years when her condition began to deteriorate, she was convinced and agreed to undergo the surgery. After the patient agreed for the surgery, the doctors again ran a few tests to ascertain her condition and found a blockage in the patient’s aortic valve too. A team led by Dr Utpal Shah, Senior Consultant, Cardiothoracic Surgeon Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad, performed the 8-hour-long triple valve replacement surgery.

Dr Shah, said, “There was 25-35% risk to the patient’s life. Triple valve replacement surgery is an extremely rare and complex medical procedure. It is even more challenging in cases when metal valves need to be re-replaced with very few such surgeries are performed internationally as per medical literature.”

Following the surgery, the patient is currently recuperating and responding well to all the post-operative treatments of the hospital.