MGM Healthcare Performs India’s 1st Life-Saving Brain Bypass Surgery Evading Stroke in an ITP Patient: Overcoming Blood Clotting Complexities

MGM Healthcare, a multispecialty quaternary care hospital in the heart of Chennai, today announced the successful completion of brain bypass surgery on a 59-year-old NRI from Bahrain. The surgery was performed by Dr. Roopesh Kumar, Director of Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurosurgery, MGM Healthcare, and the team. The patient had the complication of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) which is a rare autoimmune disorder, in which a persons blood doesnt clot properly.

The patient, Mr. Mohammed Yusuf (name changed), was diagnosed with severe chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). ITP is a rare autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the bloods ability to clot due to low platelet counts. Platelets are cell fragments that are found in blood which help in the blood clotting process. When their numbers drop significantly, it may lead to excessive bleeding and bruising, which are some of the symptoms of ITP.

The patient had symptoms of stroke and visited a healthcare center in Bahrain and subsequently traveled to India and consulted a hospital in Mangalore. The patient continued to suffer a mild stroke in his brain during the hospital visit. He underwent treatment at a private hospital in Udupi, where doctors identified that one of the major blood vessels in the brain was significantly narrow, leading to decreased blood flow to the right side of the brain, and referred him to a higher center due to the huge risk involved.

Mr. Yusuf was then referred and immediately rushed to MGM Healthcare’s emergency with a stroke symptom and the left side of his body was giving up, and his limbs started to weaken. To make matters worse, the blood platelet count started decreasing from 80,000 platelets to 20,000 platelets. Since, the patient’s blood platelet count was very low, performing any procedure involves high-risk. On admission, Dr. Roopesh and Dr Gopinathan M, Consultant, Hematologist, decided to administer medicines to quickly increase his blood platelet counts. From 20,000 platelets, the count was brought to 80,000, which gave the doctors some hope for his surgery. Dr. Roopesh and his team took up the challenge of performing a brain bypass surgery (an intricate and complex procedure that involves rerouting blood flow to the brain to bypass blocked or damaged blood vessels) on an emergency basis.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Roopesh Kumar, Director of Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurosurgery, MGM Healthcare, and team. The surgery took 5 hours to complete. The doctors continued various measures to maintain the blood platelets in the post-op- period, since low blood platelets can increase the risk of bleeding in the surgical site.

Sharing his thoughts on the procedure, Dr. Roopesh Kumar said, “This is one of the rarest surgeries that we have performed at MGM Healthcare. The patient having a severe case of ITP posed a big challenge in performing the brain bypass surgery. But thanks to the exceptional team that MGM Healthcare has today, we can offer patients the best care and cure. We are happy that Mr. Yusuf has completely recovered.”

“We are very happy about being referred to MGM Healthcare. While the team of doctors gave me a new lease of life, they also hand-held me throughout these difficult times, reassuring us continuously that everything would be fine. This care is something that we will cherish all our lives,” said, Mr. Yusuf.

For more details on Neurosurgery, one may reach out to MGM Healthcare at +91 44 4524 2407 or info@mgmhealthcare.in.

About MGM Healthcare

Born out of a need for altruism, MGM Healthcare is obsessed with bettering patient experiences and improving clinical outcomes through expertise, passion and technology. The manifestation of this dedication to superlative health-caring is a state-of-the-art hospital on Nelson Manickam Road having 400 beds, 50 out-patient consultation rooms, over 100 critical care beds, 250+ Doctors, 12 Centers of excellence, 30+ Clinical Departments, 12 state-of-the-art Operating Theatres and 24 x 7 comprehensive Emergency Care. Here, a host of eminent surgeons and physicians wield a potent combination of skill and cutting edge technology to elevate care and outcomes to new levels. MGM Healthcare is the first hospital in Asia with the highest rated USGBC LEED Platinum-certified Green Hospital.

Over the past year, the team of clinical experts at MGM Healthcare have performed many innovative and complex surgeries in the pursuit of establishing trust and clinical excellence. MGM Healthcare designed and equipped with the latest in technology and equipment is poised to drive patient centricity and clinical excellence of both the domestic and international patients.