Tripura doctors perform first non-surgical heart defect repair

Agartala: Doctors at Agartala Government Medical College and GB Pant Hospital fixed a complex heart defect without opening the chest. They used a catheter-based procedure to close a hole in the heart of 11-year-old Arbik Debbarma. It was the first time this minimally invasive surgery happened in Tripura.

Arbik suffered from breathing trouble and regular chest infections for years. He checked into the hospital this March. After months of testing, Dr. Anindya Sundar Trivedi led the team that closed the defect through a blood vessel. The surgery took two hours. Recovery was quick.

The boy went home on June 19 with his health restored. Dr. Trivedi said, "The highly specialised procedure lasted approximately two hours and was completed successfully." A multidisciplinary team of cardiologists and pediatricians handled the case.

Private clinics charge up to 8 lakh rupees for this work. The state provided the entire service free of charge under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. This success proves Tripura can manage high-end cardiac care locally. Families no longer need to travel outside the state for these complicated repairs.