Rare large fungal ball from heart valve of elderly man removed by doctors

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New
Delhi,
Aug
10:
A
70-year-old
man
diagnosed
with
a
rare
condition
got
a
fresh
lease
of
life
after
undergoing
a
complex
surgery
in
which
doctors
extracted
a
“6
cm-long
fungal
ball” from
his
heart
valve,
hospital
authorities
said
on
Tuesday.

Interacting
with
reporters
here,
the
patient
Suresh
Chandra
said
he
had
contracted
COVID-19
in
May
2021
and
had
recovered
at
home.

But
a
few
months
later,
Chandra
said
he
started
having
persistent
cough
and
high
fever,
news
agency
PTI
reported.

“I
consulted
various
doctors.
Everyone
assumed
it
to
be
a
post-Covid
complication,
and
presumed
it
to
be
due
to
lung
infection,”
he
said,
adding
he
has
a
history
of
aortic
valve
replacement.

Chandra
then
approached
doctors
at
Fortis
hospital
where
they
diagnosed
it
as
“rare
fungal
infection
termed
infective
endocarditis”,
authorities
said.

How
a
high-risk
surgery
saved
a
COVID-19
positive
accident
victim

A
team
of
doctors
led
by
Dr
Udgeath
Dhir,
director
and
head
of
cardiothoracic
and
vascular
surgery
(CTVS),
Fortis
Memorial
Research
Institute,
Gurgaon,
managed
the
case
and
through
a
complex
surgery,
successfully
extracted
the
6
cm-long
fungal
ball
from
the
patient’s
heart
valve,
a
hospital
statement
said.

“This
is
a
very
rare
case,
sometimes
found
in
cardiac
surgery
patients
worldwide
and
chances
of
survival
are
only
50
per
cent,”
it
said.

The
surgery
took
place
a
few
months
ago.
Post-surgery
“anti-fungal
IV
continued
for
another
45
days”
under
their
supervision.
The
patient
stabilised
and
recovered
completely
and
he
is
doing
well
now,
they
said.

“Prior
to
the
surgery,
the
patient’s
heart
function
had
dropped
to
25
per
cent
and
he
was
in
shock
failure
(infection
in
the
body
had
compromised
heart
function
and
led
to
difficulty
in
breathing).

“The
doctors
performed
a
high-risk
redo
aortic
valve
replacement
surgery
to
detoxify
his
body
using
special
filters
and
by
placing
the
patient
on
artificial
heart
lung
machine
to
remove
as
much
infection
as
possible,”
it
said.

Dr
Dhir
said,
“Fungal
endocarditis
is
a
very
uncommon
case,
which
happens
in
the
aortic
valve
of
the
heart.
In
this
patient,
the
fungal
ball
covered
around
7
cm
of
the
heart’s
aortic
valve
which
is
also
a
rare
condition.

“In
such
cases,
50
per
cent
of
people
die
and
the
success
rate
is
low
as
with
every
heartbeat,
the
heavy
fungal
ball
was
popping
out,
which
could
have
resulted
in
a
major
paralytic
attack,
a
kidney
or
a
limb
problem”.

The
aorta
transports
blood
to
all
the
body
parts
and
with
every
beat,
some
component
of
the
fungus
was
going
into
the
blood
and,
therefore,
to
all
the
body
parts,
he
said.

“Platelets
were
also
very
less
in
number
i.e.
below
1,00,000
and
it
was
tough
to
operate
on
him.
As
the
patient
had
already
undergone
surgery
of
the
aortic
valve,
we
did
a
redo
surgery
with
fungal
endocarditis.

“We
changed
his
valve
and
after
three
months,
evaluated
him
through
echocardiography,
which
showed
that
the
valve
is
functioning
fine,
and
there
is
no
level
of
infection,
as
of
now,
in
the
body,”
he
said.