Press Coverage

Tribune - Cardiologist first to perform intracranial carotid stenting

Amarjit Thind -Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 10
In a rare achievement, Dr. H.K. Bali, a renowned cardiologist, has successfully performed intracranial carotid stenting and angioplasty on two patients who are now leading near-normal lives.

Talking to The Tribune during a visit here today, he said two patients had been treated in one of the most complicated intracranial procedures involving angioplasties that were usually done to remove obstruction and occlusion in carotid arteries that supplied blood to the brain.

Dr. Bali, who is associated with Fortis Hospital in Mohali, said though the procedures were performed a few months back, the operative procedures were declared successful after months of monitoring and post-operative observation and recovery of the patients.

The patients, retired army officer Rikhi and I.J. Chhibber, came to him with symptoms of recurrent paralytic strokes involving left upper and lower limbs.

After investigations, both were found to have critical obstruction of the internal carotid arteries in the intracranial part (inside the skull).

The obstructions were in the segment that was on the under the surface of the brain.

Angioplasty of this segment was extremely complicated and technically challenging as compared to the extracranial carotid artery stenting, he pointed out.

Intracranial vascular procedures were a rarity in the region even today and such stenting had been done for the first time in the region, he claimed.

With the successful treatment of Rekhi and Chibber, this treatment could now be offered to a large number of patients with symptomatic intracranial carotid artery stenosis, he added.

Dr. Bali said with this expertise, all types of obstructive lesions in all the segments of the arteries supplying blood to the brain could now be performed in the region.

Elaborating the disease, Dr. Bali added that obstruction or narrowing of carotid arteries that supplied blood to the brain was the usual cause of cerebrovascular occlusive strokes.

Termed as carotid artery stenosis, the situation becomes even more complex if the narrowing or obstruction occurs in the intracranial part of the carotid arteries i.e inside the skull.

Dr. Bali, the former PGI cardiologist, already has many firsts in carotid artery procedures to his credit. He is acclaimed as the first cardiologist to perform carotid artery stenting in India and the first to do bilateral carotid artery stenting in the region.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090211/jal.htm#3