KOLKATA: A simple pacemaker implant turned nearly fatal for veteran CPI leader and parlia mentarian Gurudas Dasgupta after two leads (wires) from the implant perforated his heart and lungs, leaving the 81-year-old breathless and causing water accumulation in the lungs.
Dasgupta had undergone the procedure at a leading private hospital in the city last September. Subsequently, he was hospitalized twice and went through several tests that initially failed to detect the faulty implant. A CT scan last month eventually detected that the right atrium of the heart and the pluera (covering of the lungs) had been penetrated by a pacemaker wire. A corrective procedure was carried out on February 8 and Dasgupta was released from hospital on February 13.
Such injuries usually prove fatal in 80% of the cases, according to cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar, who performed the corrective surgery at Medica Superspecialty Hospital. He was assisted by a two-member medical team comprising Sandip Sarkar and Binayak Chanda.
Kunal Sarkar
said, “The wire leading to his right atrium had penetrated it and the pleura, which is the covering of lungs. More dangerously, it was threatening to penetrate the lungs itself, which could have proved disastrous. His injuries had been oozing blood and the fact that he lived with them for three months is nothing short of a miracle.“
Recalling the harrowing experience of the last three months, Dasgupta's daughter,
Sohini Chakraborty
said her father's condition started deteriorating after the implant but nothing specific could be detected till a CT scan was taken at
AMRI Hospital
three weeks ago. “Soon after the implant, water started accumulating in his lungs. He had to be re-admitted to pump out the fluid. In January, he was again admitted with the same problem. This time, a thoracoscopy was done under the supervision of Partha Sarathi Bhattacharya, who was treating him. It was followed by a CT scan which showed the punctures. Doctors recommended an immediate surgery which was done last week. It was a close shave,“ said Sohini.
At Medica, Dasgupta's punctures were repaired and the wire put back in the right position. But the implant remains unchanged. “The injuries will heal and they should cause no further damage. Dasgupta has a dual-chamber pacemaker which is most commonly used. Previously , such implants would have a single wire but now they have two and are more efficient,“ said Sarkar. The parliamentarian, one of the most articulate Left leaders renowned for his forceful arguments in favour of labour movements, became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1985 and was elected general secretary of the
All India Trade Union Congress
in 2001. He was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Ghatal in 2009.
“It was difficult to gauge that the implant had gone wrong. Instead of recovering, his condition had been going from bad to worse following the implant. His breathlessness had turned so severe that he was even finding it difficult to speak. He was gradually losing his voice,“ said Sohini. The severity of the condition had been triggered by the injury to his lungs which had been functioning below capacity due to the injury , explained Sarkar.
Dasgupta has been advised rest and given certain indoor exercises to hasten his recovery. But his daughter is not yet planning to act against the hospital that did the faulty implant. “So far, his recovery has been the priority for us. We have been so busy with his treatment that I have not had the time to think about it,“ said his daughter.