New Delhi: It was a miraculous survival for Mehrauli resident Prem Kumar when he walked back home from hospital after surgery on a ruptured aorta.
Claimed by doctors to be the first case of a person, at least in India, surviving a ruptured aorta, Dr Z S Meharwal of Escorts hospital said the patient had a ruptured aorta, a secondary problem to an aortal dissection.
"He had come to the hospital for a routine check-up and the aorta ruptured right in front of us," Meharwal told PTI.
An aortic dissection is a critical condition in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the aorta. The blood gushes through this tear into the middle layer of the aorta, causing inner and middle layers to separate.
The risk in aortic dissection is that the aorta may rupture leading to massive blood loss and resulting in death.
Aortic dissection is highly dangerous as it can strike without warning symptoms, causing death before the victim makes it to the hospital.
In fact, about 40 per cent of the victims die immediately. The mortality rate of aortic dissection is estimated at 50 per cent by 48 hours in case of no diagnosis.
As soon the Echocardiography of Kumar revealed that he was suffering from a ruptured aorta, Dr Mehawal and his team decided to go in for surgery.
