Childhood is all about talking, learning and exploring the world. However, Khusanbek was deprived of the pleasures of life as he was unable to speak. Post 10 years of not being able to communicate, Khusanbek’s mother decided to get him treated at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. The team at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals of Dr. Suresh Singh Naruka, Consultant, Department of ENT along with Dr. (Prof) Ameet Kishore, Senior Consultant Surgeon, ENT and Dr. Nishant Rana Registrar recently carried out the surgery wherein the trachea of the child was reconstructed. The child was then kept in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for one day under the supervision of Dr. Nameet Jerath, Senior Pediatrician, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. Next morning the child was removed off the ventilator and the tube which he carried for 10 long years was removed.

Apollo Hospitals, Guwahati successfully removed a cardiac tumor through minimally invasive approach, for the first time in the entire North East India. This complex surgery was performed by a team of doctors lead by renowned Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon Dr. Jyoti Prasad Kalita. A 54-year-old female patient was presented at Apollo Hospitals, Guwahati with breathing difficulties due to a tumour in her heart. Further evaluation revealed that the tumour was very large in size and was lying inside the left sided chamber of heart, which was occluding a heart valve. The benefit of performing the surgery through MICS is that, post-operative recovery time is very less with less pain and less blood loss. Moreover, the chance of getting infected after the procedure is also comparatively less. The patient recovered well and was discharged from the hospital. With the advent of the new Cardiothoracic unit at Apollo Hospitals, Guwahati, people of Assam and its neighbouring states will be highly benefitted. The Cardiac surgery team at Apollo Hospitals, Guwahati is spearheaded by Dr. J P Kalita who has specialised in Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) for both Adult and Paediatrics.

The Apollo Cochlear Implant Clinic, the first such clinic in South India, began its services way back in 1994 at the Apollo Health City, Hyderabad under the leadership of renowned ENT Surgeon, Dr E. C. Vinaya Kumar, has achieved a major landmark, with the performing of more than 1500 Cochlear implantations. The team has acquired the distinction of being the largest Cochlear Implant Program in India and South Asia, and enters its momentous Silver Jubilee. The Apollo Cochlear Implant program was the trailblazer for most cochlear implant programs currently running in India. Initially, the team conducted several workshops, seminars, awareness programs to educate professionals, patients and general public. It played a crucial role in popularizing the program by mentoring and training cochlear implant Surgeons, Audiologists and Rehabilitationists at Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Odisha, West Bengal etc. Thus thousands of kids in these states gained hearing ability. The multidisciplinary Apollo Cochlear Implant team has enormous expertise in evaluating and implanting on very young children, including infants. Its expertise has enabled children and adults of all ages with hearing impairment to benefit. The patients rehabilitated through Cochlear implantation by the team are as young as 9 months old babies to 87 years old elderly populations, said Dr E. C. Vinaya Kumar, Sr. Consultant ENT Surgeon, Apollo Health City. In the course of these 25 glorious years, the Apollo Cochlear implant clinic has won several laurels, including a world record for doing highest number of surgeries in a single day. It has the highest surgical success rate (i.e. lowest complications) compared to European multi center statistics. The Apollo Cochlear Implant program is one of the stupendous initiatives of Apollo Health City, as it enabled a ray of hope for several parents of stone deaf little children and brought these kids into the mainstream, helping them leading a life of dignity and many are doing extremely well in their chosen path, said Dr Hari Prasad, President – Hospitals Division, Apollo Hospitals Group. It was the Apollo Cochlear implant program which influenced the then Andhra Pradesh government to include free cochlear implant surgeries under Rajiv Aarogyasree scheme and sought the help of the NGO, Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired (SAHI). Later this model was replicated by many state governments in their health schemes and the central government too adopted it in the ADIP cochlear implant program. About Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired (SAHI) In November of 2004, a group of ENT surgeons, audiologists, and hospital management personnel, united with concerned citizens to form SAHI. It is an Indian NGO that aims at helping underprivileged children with impaired hearing. SARI mainly seeks to identify and aid children living in rural areas, with little or no access to modern medical treatment. Since its establishment, SAHI has been addressing this problem by means of conducting camps in remote areas of the state. Children with learning disabilities or hearing loss are given hearing aids by SAHI and those with ear diseases are given free ear surgeries. Under the Hearing Impaired Girl children project ,SAHI is also providing free cochlear implant surgeries for girl children. SAHI is working on the prevention, awareness, identification and treatment through various activities. We regularly conduct “Newborn hearing screening program” to detect hearing problems immediately after birth with the simple test called Oto acoustic emissions (OAE). SAHI conducts free ear camps in rural areas, slums to identify children with hearing problems and provide necessary treatment including medical and surgical at free of cost. Children require hearing aids will be provided digitally programmable hearing aids at free of cost. Part of the camps we also conduct awareness programs in the schools, community halls, etc. SAHI initiated “Gift a Ear” project to fund children to undergo cochlear implant surgeries, initiated “Hearing Impaired Girl Child Project’ to fund free cochlear implant for the hearing impaired girl children. To date over 360 cochlear implant surgeries were funded by SAHI. SAHI also helps in providing auditory verbal therapy for children with hearing loss undergone for cochlear implant surgery and fitted with hearing aids. Auditory verbal therapy is very important task in achieving normal speech and language skills for the hearing-impaired children, outcomes of the surgery is highly dependent on the auditory verbal therapy.

In a significant move to bring quality cardiac services to the people of the country and to fight heart disease, Bahrain Specialist Hospital (BSH) has collaborated with Apollo Hospitals. The BSH Apollo Heart Center will touch 1.5 million hearts to keep heart diseases at bay, which is the No.1 cause of death in Bahrain. The Apollo Hospitals Group treats more than 60,000 GCC citizens annually in India. The Group brings to the BSH Apollo Heart Centre their experience of over 500,000 Cardiac Interventional Procedures, 116,000 Cardiac Surgeries with a 99.6% success rate. Along with this Apollo Hospitals has also done more than 70 successful Heart Transplants, having a long term success rate at par with international standards. The Heart Center at Bahrain Specialist Hospital will be operated and managed by Apollo Hospitals and will provide treatment for all aspects of adult Cardiology, ranging from interventions to cardiac surgery. With infrastructure such as third-generation state-of-the-art Cath Lab, Cardiac Critical Care Units and Intensive Care Units, the center will provide advanced comprehensive cardiac care. An experienced team of doctors, nurses, technicians, and paramedics are deployed from the Apollo Heart Institute in Hyderabad to serve the people in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The BSH Apollo Heart Center is setup with the support and patronage of His Excellency Lieutenant General, Doctor Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Health and Dr. Mariam Adhbi Al-Jalahma, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Regulatory Authority. HE. Lt. General Doctor Shaikh Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Health said, “With Bahrain becoming an affluent nation, we have seen a marked change in the socio-cultural pattern. Calorie and cholesterol consumption has risen dramatically to alarming proportions. This, combined with a more sedentary lifestyle has contributed to an increasing incidence and prevalence of heart diseases. The BSH Apollo Heart Center will be the first comprehensive tertiary level cardiac care for patients in the private space in Bahrain that will tackle the local burden of the disease to reduce coronary morbidity in the future.” Dr. Sangita Reddy, Jt. Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “The BSH Apollo Heart Center is a culmination of two years of discussions to identify the right specialty where Apollo’s expertise can contribute and the right partner. Cardiac care is a discipline where Apollo Hospitals brings a wealth of experience and resources, such as established and clear protocols, operating manuals, human capital, and resources, to ensure successful delivery of world-class management and treatment of heart disease. In addition, Apollo’s network allows a natural back-up for services such as cardiac surgery and transplant for cases that require more advanced attention and care than what is locally available. We look forward to serving the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain and delivering to them cardiac care comparable to the best in the world.” Mr. Hamid Rashid Al Zayani, Chairman, Bahrain Specialist Hospital said, “Our collaboration with Apollo Hospitals in the form of the BSH Apollo Heart Center will work to address a critical health issue in the Kingdom. The center is well equipped for elective, urgent and emergency cardiac surgeries with facilities that keep up with technical progress and scientific knowledge and is suitable for the use of advanced medical equipment.” Dr. Kasim Ardati, Managing Director, Bahrain Specialist Hospital said, “With a team of board-certified Cardiologists, Cardiothoracic Surgeons and Cardiac Anaesthesiologists experienced in Coronary Artery Stenting, Laser Angioplasty and in techniques as advanced as Percutaneous Transluminal Septal Myocardial Ablation, the center will also offer minimally invasive treatments for cardiac and vascular diseases by using cutting-edge technologies that meet international standards for cardiac care.” The Cath. Lab. is a dedicated facility with a recovery unit where hemodynamic and angiographic diagnostic studies, coronary and other angioplasties, placement of intravascular stents, embolization of vascular structures, direct emergency revascularization of acute myocardial infarction, and minor surgical procedures, primarily for vascular access or more major surgical interventions are performed. Bahrain residents and visitors can learn more about the full spectrum of preventive, emergency, and health management services at the BSH Apollo Heart Center by visiting the website https://www.bahrainspecialisthospital.com or calling 17812000.

Apollo Hospitals has announced a joint collaboration with Nobel Laureate Dr. Ferid Murad for conducting an extensive research on the causes for high prevalence of heart disease among Indians and suggesting ways to detect early and render precise treatment. Due to the high prevalence of heart disease in India, there is an opportunity for this collaboration between Dr. Ferid Murad and the Apollo Hospitals, to explore newer pathways for early detection and accurate treatment of heart ailments. This joint initiative will work towards finding newer methods to provide freedom from illness and suffering in the community. In addition to world-class medical care, the Apollo Group is also a recognized leader in scientific research, it has a robust and expanding research base in all aspects of medicine. In the cardiology, Apollo Hospitals is already undertaking several research initiatives including: The importance of baseline Troponin level as a cardiovascular risk marker. Profiling the effects of blood pressure reduction on central aortic blood pressure levels. Measuring the 24 hr ambulatory blood pressure without using the traditional cuff – a novel approach first time in India.

Baby Angela, 6-year-old was brought to Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, with a history of zero hearing and negligible speech. Auditory brain stem implant was performed at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals by a team of multi-disciplinary doctors led by Dr. (Prof) Ameet Kishore, Senior Consultant Surgeon, ENT and Cochlear Implant Surgeon, Ms. Neevita Narayan, Audiologist Speech therapist and Cochlear Implant Audiologist, Dr. Pranav Kumar, Senior Consultant, Neurosurgery. Read more about Auditory Brain Stem implant

Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata has launched Eastern India’s First and most advanced comprehensive Foot and Ankle Clinic in a hospital setting in presence of ATK players Edu Garcia, Roy Krishna and Pritam Kotal. Headed by Dr Kushal Nag, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon (specializing foot and ankle) at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, the clinic will address all kinds of abnormal conditions of the feet and lower limbs such as diabetic foot, plantar fasciitis, flat feet and arthritis along with alleviate day-to-day problems such as thickened toenails, fungal nail infections or ingrown toenails. The Foot & Ankle Clinic will deal with: Screening & treatment of at-risk patients Chronic & acute ulcer management Prescription of Orthotic footwear for desired pressure relief Prevention for future foot problems through education and advice Pain management Help in function & mobility Prevention or minimization of deformity Reduction in risk of ulceration or amputation Common deformities like heel problem, high arched foot and flat foot are often neglected leading to further complications like excruciating back pain, muscle pain, ankle sprains, leg pain, inability to walk or stand for long hours. Apollo’s Foot and Ankle Clinic will be equipped with 3D foot scan, which has an indicator with artificial intelligence. The artificial intelligence in this scanning machine detects the degree of problem and recommends the remedial product. About 10% people with foot problems require surgeries and the remaining 90%, if detected early, can be treated with conservative orthopedic management (customized 3D insoles designed exactly to address individual problems). Present at the occasion, Dr Kushal Nag said, “Apart from flat foot, high arched foot etc., another critical problem we see is Diabetic Foot leading to foot ulcers. For treating such patients with surgeries, having a facility in a tertiary care hospital is extremely important as the other departments can address and prevent the related complications like foot amputation risks.” It is seen that a lot of people face pain in their feet after walking a bit and opt for expensive shoes hoping to get comfort. Here people don’t realize that they are not addressing the cause of the pain, which can only be addressed with proper detection with 3D Foot Scan. Addressing the problem would prevent the condition from worsening, which means they won’t require surgeries later on. The services at Foot & Ankle Clinic includes: Assessment and treatment of foot problems relating to, but not restricted to: Diabetes & Vascular diseases Systemic arthropathies and other rheumatological conditions Biomechanical & musculoskeletal assessment Soft tissue disorders including corns and calluses State-of-the-art expertise Advanced 3D Scanning, Pressure mapping & other diagnostic equipment Trained podiatric specialists Specialist foot care services like clinical pedicure, corn removal etc. Extensive range of orthotic supports and footwear Advice on bespoke & therapeutic footwear Fitting of customized orthotic products

Apollo Hospitals, Chennai organized a Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) workshop in the presence of world renowned Cardiologist, Dr. Tomohiko Teramoto, Chief Director at the Cardiovascular Medicine, Ichinomiya Nishi Hospital, Ichinomiya, Aichi, Japan at Apollo Speciality Hospitals Vanagaram. Read more about Chronic Total Occlusion workshop

58-year-old Mr. Samir Banerjee suffered an acute stroke on 3rd October 2019  night around 9:00 pm. Seeing the symptoms like paralytic attack on right side of the body along with slurry speech, his family rushed him to Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals Kolkata post-midnight. The doctors started treatment immediately and within a  day he recovered and was discharged. Even though his stroke was acute, today he leads a normal life without any support only because he was brought in within 4 hours of his stroke. According to a report by WHO in 2018, Stroke causes 6 million deaths worldwide every year, which is the second highest number of deaths after ischemic heart disease. The report also states that every 6 seconds, regardless of age or gender – someone, somewhere is dying from stroke (Brain Attack/Paralytic stroke) and one in every 6 persons in this world will get a stroke in their life time.  Hence, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals pledged to reduce stroke cases by spreading awareness. Facial paresis, arm drift/weakness, and abnormal speech indicate high positive predictive value for stroke and must be immediately treated. The sooner the treatment is given to stroke patients, the greater is the benefit, especially if started within 90 minutes of symptom onset. Present at the occasion,  Dr Debabrata Chakraborty, Consultant Neurologist and Stroke Specialist Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata expressed “The best way to avoid getting an ischemic stroke is by having controlled blood pressure and blood sugar levels. However, if symptoms of stroke are noted, it is extremely crucial to bring the patient to a tertiary care hospital with 24×7 services within the golden hour (within 4-6 hours of on setting symptoms). Chances of strokes proving to be fatal can only be reduced if patients are brought in without any delay. This helps the brain cells from getting permanent damage from the clots. ” Dr Sadanand Dey, Consultant Neurologist and Stroke Specialist Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata said “There are modern treatments for stroke today. Depending on the severity of the stroke , the mode of treatments are decided. When blood thinning medicines aren’t sufficient , thrombectomy is opted for within 4.5-6 hours of stroke. It is an endovascular therapy with a stent retriever to remove the blood clot. It is given to patients who did not respond to i.v tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) within 4.5 hours or reached beyond the therapeutic window of tPA but within 6 hours. The timing of the treatment is extremely critical for the patient’s condition to improve.”

The Maastricht University has signed an agreement with the Apollo-Microsoft Cardiology Consortium to help expand the AI Network for Cardiology and research on cardiovascular diseases in the Netherlands. The partnership was announced at the inaugural session of the DST-CII India Netherlands Technology Summit at New Delhi, in the presence of His Majesty Willem–Alexander, the King of the Netherlands and Mr. Harsh Vardhan, Honorable Minister for Science and Technology, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. Her Majesty, the Queen and other ministers from the Dutch government also graced the occasion. Apollo Hospitals–Microsoft Consortium is building the AI Network for Cardiology to develop an India-specific heart risk score and better predict cardiac diseases for the general population with the help of Apollo’s database and expertise in the field, and Microsoft’s leading cloud and AI tools. The algorithm is based on a vast amount of data pooled from over 200,000 patients treated at six of Apollo’s hospitals. At Maastricht, the model will now be validated using data from the Maastricht Study (a long-term cohort health study in the Maastricht region) and from the Heart+Vascular Center at Maastricht University Medical Center. “Using this technology, from the countryside of India to the city of Maastricht, we can identify people at risk for cardiovascular disease,” says André Dekker, professor of Clinical Data Science at Maastricht University. “And we can also give them very specific advice to adjust their lifestyle to reduce the risk,” he adds. Launched in August 2018 by Microsoft India and Apollo Hospitals, the AI-powered Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score API (application program interface) is the first-ever Intelligent Platform designed specifically to predict the risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in the Indian population. Over the past year, doctors across the Apollo network of hospitals have been successfully leveraging this AI-powered API to predict the risk of CVD and drive preventive cardiac care across the country. Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group says, “Cardiovascular diseases account for a significant 30% of the mortality in India. We found there was an unmet need to conduct a study that would analyze patient data to determine and interpret risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases in the Indian population. Building on the success of our partnership with Microsoft that led to the development of an India-specific AI-powered risk score for heart disease, we are taking this collaboration to the global stage in partnership with international organizations. The international consortium will enable a global validation of the algorithms and expand the scope of the risk score to cover multiple conditions in cardiovascular disease. The partnership with renowned health systems across the world to scale the API will go a long way in helping achieve the World Health Organization’s goal of reducing the risk of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases, including CVDs, by 25% by 2025.” “We are delighted to be part of the digital transformation journey with leading healthcare providers, our customers, and partners. AI’s significant role in predictive disease analysis and monitoring will enable doctors and healthcare providers with greater insights into their treatment plans thereby improving patient outcomes. This partnership with Maastricht is a great step towards our vision to engage global consortium partners to scale AICVD API,” said Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice President, Cloud & AI Platform, Microsoft. The goal of the international consortium is to achieve a Standard Cardiac Risk Score. This will enable doctors across the world to identify cardiac risks in patients and design a structured road map to reduce risks, with the aim of a long-term reduction in the global burden of cardiac disease.

A 7-month-old baby from Congo was successfully operated by Dr. Muthu Jothi, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals for a rare congenital heart disease. Baby Banguli was detected with type 3 Truncus Arteriosus (TA); such cases are generally operated on before three months of age. However, in this case, the patient was seven months old hence there was high risk involved. Read more about how the successful surgery performed on 7-month-old Congolese baby

Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai has achieved s a significant landmark, with the completion of 25 Paediatric Liver Transplants. A major milestone for the medical fraternity in Western India, the paediatric liver transplant program at Apollo Navi Mumbai took off two years ago at a time when children with end-stage liver disease had no comprehensive facility or access to advanced pediatric liver transplantation programmes in the city of Mumbai. The transplants have been successfully carried out at subsidized costs with a more than 90% success rate that compares with the best in the world. The transplants at Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai have given new hope to the families of young patients who find it challenging to meet the medical expenses of liver-related illness and liver transplantation costs. Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai, with its experienced transplant team and a world-class healthcare facility, provides an economically viable option for life-saving transplants. Dr Darius F Mirza, Consultant, HPB and Liver Transplant Surgery, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai said, “The Apollo Hospital’s pediatric liver transplantation programme is staffed with experienced pediatric liver transplant surgeons and has success rates that are comparable to the best in the world. With well-equipped infrastructure and skilled pre and post-operative management teams, the risk to both donor and recipient are minimized to ensure a successful outcome. Today, with advances in surgical technique, immunosuppression, and post-operative aftercare, paediatric liver transplantation is a safe proven procedure.” “In liver transplant surgery, a diseased liver is replaced with a healthy liver from a donor. A liver transplant is advised for children with serious liver problems who will not be able to survive without a new donor liver. A living donor will be a family member. Since the liver is the only organ in the body that can replace or regenerate lost or damaged tissue, people who donate part of their liver can have healthy lives with the liver that is left, as the donor’s liver will grow back to normal size after surgery. The transplanted part received by the child also grows to normal size in a few weeks,” explained Dr Mirza. Dr Aabha Nagral, Consultant, Hepatology (Adult & Pediatrics), Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai spoke on the common indications for a paediatric liver transplant. She said, “The most common indication for a liver transplant is biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants and results in blockage of the bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder, causing damage to the liver cells. Other causes of childhood acute and chronic liver failure include inherited liver diseases. In children with serious dysfunction of the liver and end-stage liver disease, a liver transplant is the only solution. Timing of the liver transplant in a paediatric patient is important and is influenced by many factors including the age, the underlying liver disease, and past medical and surgical history. A multi-disciplinary team assesses the child and gives their input for the management.” Dr. Vikram Raut, Consultant, Liver Transplant Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai elaborated on how the team has achieved high success rates which are on par with international transplant success rates. He said, “Evaluation and selection of the donor and patient are critical. The challenge of matching the size of the donor liver for the paediatric patient is overcome by the use of techniques such as reduced, split, and living donor related liver transplantation. In a living-donor transplant, an organ or portion of liver is removed from a living person and placed in the patient whose organ is no longer functioning properly. Most of the living donors are discharged within a week and can resume their daily activities in 4 to 6 weeks. Also, with well-equipped infrastructure and an experienced team for pre and postoperative management, the risk to both donor and recipient can be minimized.” Mr. Santosh Marathe, COO & Unit Head, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai said, “We are proud to be the first healthcare facility in Western India to have achieved this landmark of 25 paediatric liver transplants. The Apollo Hospitals Group has always created landmarks in healthcare, and the completion of 25 paediatric liver transplants in a short period of two years after starting the program is further evidence of the hospital group’s leadership in advanced healthcare that lays down the benchmark for accessible and affordable world-class healthcare in India. The hospital supports and performs liver transplant surgery at multiple centres across Maharashtra, including Apollo Hospitals, Nashik and Jehangir Hospital, Pune. The transplant unit has one of the most advanced pediatric intensive care units with a highly qualified intensivist team. The pediatric liver transplant programme at Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai has also seen significant fund raising initiatives through crowd funding, thus reaching out to a larger strata of society and providing relief, treatment to the deserving children. Our achievement gives us the confidence to continue to aspire to deliver the best and advanced healthcare to the people of Western India.”