Thaindian News

Mumbai, Aug 5 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who underwent major heart surgeries, was taken off the ventilator just before midnight and is showing signs of speedy recovery, the hospital said here Thursday afternoon.
“He is feeling comfortable and not complaining of any pain and is also doing his physiotherapy exercises. He is showing good signs of speedy recovery,” a spokesperson for the Asian Heart Institute (AHI) here said.

He is communicating normally with the hospital staff. All his vital parameters are stable and he is expected to be taken off the liquid diet in the evening.

Gogoi, 74, was operated upon Wednesday by a team of medicos led by renowned heart surgeon Ramakanta Panda, the head of AHI. Gogoi underwent coronary bypass, an aortic valve replacement and a procedure to correct the enlargement of the aorta, which the hospital described as “a medical miracle”.

Earlier, in 2006 Gogoi had undergone a double chamber pacemaker implantation.

Investigations this time revealed he would need an aortic valve replacement and a bypass surgery. The spokesperson said that Gogoi had two blockages and leakage in the aortic valve as it was not closing normally. However, during the procedure it was discovered that the aorta was narrow, making it difficult to replace a large size valve.

Accordingly, the team of doctors had to perform an additional surgery to enlarge the aorta. As a result of this he got a larger size valve which would give him good long term results.

Wednesday’s marathon surgical procedures lasted seven hours and went off smoothly without any complications.

Gogoi regained consciousness soon after the surgery and is expected to remain in the intensive cardiac care unit till the weekend.

After an expected stay of around 10-12 days in hospital, Gogoi is expected to resume his normal duties in the next four weeks.

The team of medicos led by Ramakanta Panda included Vijay D’Silva, Pradyot Kumar Rath, Narendra Garach, Bhavesh Vora, Jasmina Vora, Suresh Mehthalia, Santosh Kumar Dora, Tilak Suvarna, Jamshed Soonawala, Aashish Contractor and a team of physiotherapists.