For the first time in Pakistan’s medical history, doctors have successfully saved the life of a patient whose heart and lungs had completely failed after a continuous struggle of nine days.
Medical experts at Karachi’s National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) placed the patient on an advanced life-support machine called ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) for nine days the first such procedure ever performed in Pakistan for a patient with complete heart and lung failure.
The medical team carried out this highly complex procedure successfully, after which the patient recovered.
The case emerged when a young patient’s heart and lungs stopped functioning following surgery. The expert team at NICVD immediately employed both VA ECMO (Veno-Arterial ECMO) and VV ECMO (Veno-Venous ECMO) simultaneously to save the patient’s life.
According to the NICVD spokesperson, VA ECMO and VV ECMO are advanced life-support machines that oxygenate the blood, remove carbon dioxide, and temporarily take over the function of the heart and lungs.
This intricate cardiac procedure was led by Dr. Ali Raza Mangi, under whose supervision the dedicated and skilled ECMO team at NICVD worked day and night to give a young patient a new lease on life.
The patient, a resident of Karachi, received completely free treatment.
NICVD continues to provide state of the art cardiac treatment facilities free of cost and plays a vital role in promoting cardiac innovation in Pakistan.
