PANAJI
A challenging surgery was performed at Manipal Hospitals Goa to save the life of 71-year-old Francis Pereira who was suffering from Myeloproliferative disorder, a rare medical condition and the patient who underwent the operation on August 23 this year, is now hale and hearty.
Pereira’s treatment was led by Dr Rakesh Deshmane and Dr Mahadeva B C, both from Manipal Hospitals. Pereira, who was present on the occasion, expressed his gratitude towards both the doctors who treated him. “I had a very bad heart pain on a daily basis. Dr Rakesh and Dr Mahadeva encouraged me to go ahead with the treatment and then surgery. Thankfully I took the decision and underwent three-and-a-half-hour long surgery after which I recovered and now feeling rejuvenated. I didn’t think that I would come back but I survived the procedure and here I am smiling,” said Pereira who suffers a rare kind of bone marrow cancer that stopped him from undergoing bypass surgery. Pereira had blockages in four vessels and was suffering for four years.
“In this disease the bone marrow produces either too many or too few of certain blood cells, most of which do not function properly, making the patient’s condition weak to undergo any surgeries,” explained Dr Deshmane who put Pereira on specific medication to make his bone marrow condition okay for surgery. The beating heart cardiac surgery was carried on successfully by Dr Mahadeva, which relieved Pereira from his chest pain that would occur on a daily basis.
Pereira’s case was very complicated. There are 2-5 persons per lakh who suffer this condition. Pereira was suffering from Myelofibrosis, which is a disorder of the bone marrow, in which the marrow is replaced by scar (fibrous) tissue and is not able to produce healthy blood cells. Patient suffering from this condition suffers from bone pain, bruising, easy bleeding, fatigue and increased chances of infection. With a prior history of cardiac issues, the line of treatment for him was to minimise the symptoms as much as possible.
Dr Deshmane explained that the patient was brought to the hospital in a very critical condition. There are very few curative options for Myelofibrosis and most therapies are aimed at minimising symptoms.
Dr Mahadeva added, “Operating a person with above disease poses a challenge of either excessive bleeding or inappropriate clotting leading to difficulty in operating, surgical challenge and post-surgery delayed wound healing and causing Graft failure. We treated this with newer modality wherein we started oral medications. The surgery was then performed taking into consideration all the precautions.”
