PUNJAB HEART SURGEON’S WORK PUBLISHED IN WORLD LITERATURE

Ludhiana, November 28, 2018: A breakthrough use of a new 3D printing technology used for the first time in the world for a lung disease has found its rightful place in the world literature. It has been published today in the most prestigious Cardio Vascular portal of the world – the CTS Net of USA (ctsnet.org). Dr.Harinder Singh Bedi – Chairman Cardio Vascular Endovascular & Thoracic Sciences – explained that his team had used the help of a cutting edge technology called 3D printing to conduct a life saving surgery in a young man. The patient Mr.Gurjit Singh (name changed) a 23 year old college student was noted to have a bluish discoloration of his body since childhood along with shortness of breath. When his colour started getting worse he was referred to Dr Bedi in Ludhiana. His heart scans were normal - so Dr. Bedi suspected a lung problem and got a CT scan done. There was a large connection between the right sided pulmonary artery and vein which was bypassing the lung. So blue blood was entering the body without picking up oxygen. This is called a large pulmonary arterio-venous malformation (AVM) and is a rare disease. Dr.Bedi realized that the AVM could suddenly burst leading to a life threatening bleeding. On the CT the malformation looked extremely complex with the arteries and veins hopelessly intermixed. The treatment was an early intervention. However it was expected to cause major problems during the procedure as the pathology was intricate. So Dr. Bedi decided to take the help of a new technology called 3D printing. This is being done in the Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC) Ludhiana under Prof.Rupinder Singh. Special equipment (3D printing hardware/software) was used to create a life sized 3D print of the malformation. This specimen could be rotated all around and visualized from all angles. After a careful study of this specimen Dr. Bedi went ahead with the minimally invasive surgery . This would normally have taken over 3 hours and there was a risk that even a 1 mm mistake could trigger a torrential bleed .With the knowledge provided by the 3D – Dr. Bedi was able to remove the whole AVM in just 23 minutes with hardly any blood loss. Mr. Gurjit Singh recovered well . His bluish colour has been replaced with a healthy normal pink and his breathing is normal. Since this was a new application never before reported in the world – Dr Bedi sent the paper to the most prestigious surgical portal – the CTS Net . The International expert peers studied the paper in great detail before publishing it . The portal has a world wide extensive viewership and already appreciation of the technique is coming in. The publication is available at : ctsnet.org/article/three-dimensional-printing-guided-precise-surgery-complex-pulmonary-arteriovenous Dr. Bedi said that he could foresee the immense contribution of this modality in minimally invasive surgery and precise procedures all of which lead to enhanced patient safety. On an exhaustive internet search there has been no mention of the use of 3D printing in such a potentially dangerous lung pathology. Dr Bedi said that now India is setting benchmarks in various fields including medicine . He was exceedingly proud and happy that the name of Punjab and India would now be permanently acknowledged whenever this technology is quoted.