Doctors of a private hospital in Kolkata successfully implanted a pacemaker in a 102-year-old woman and discharged her from the facility within two days, one of the physicians said.
Implanting a pacemaker may be a common procedure but performing the surgery in the heart of a 102-year-old woman is rare, he said.
Dr Smriti Kana Roy, a gynaecologist who used to treat Saint Teresa and other nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, underwent the operation on March 15.
Roy, a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, had complained of dizziness when doctors found an irregular heartbeat and prescribed the implant, her younger daughter Julie Basu told PTI from the US on Tuesday.
“It was an amazing experience. She has no comorbidities. But her heart rate had decreased, and her halter rate recorded a pause of six seconds. We suggested the need for a pacemaker implant.
“She was admitted on Saturday morning and the surgery was done that very day. She was discharged on Monday,” Dr Sunil Baran Roy, senior consultant of interventional cardiology at Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, said.
The centenarian told PTI from her residence in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge area that she was confident about the success of the surgery.
“I feel better. I do not know whether this is a miracle or not because I am not the one to decide that. I followed whatever was suggested by the doctors,” she said.
Asked about the secret of her agility at this age, Roy, who was born in 1922, said she works, reads newspapers and books and keeps herself busy.
“I believe in helping others and working for them has given me satisfaction,” Roy said.
“My mother has been a very disciplined woman, and she follows a strict routine even today. She is very strong mentally and I have never seen her cry. Even Covid could not touch her,” said 66-year-old Julie, who is scheduled to come to the city soon.
Roy had to leave behind her two daughters, then aged seven and three years, when she went to the UK in 1964 for her Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Later, she was rewarded with the Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FRCOG).
Roy recounted that Mother Teresa admitted her elder daughter June to the Loreto Convent, where she used to teach before forming Missionaries of Charity.
