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This story is part of William Osler Health System’s (Osler) Doctors Making a Difference campaign featuring Osler doctors who are going beyond to improve our community’s health.
As family members, it’s never easy to make tough decisions when it comes to a loved one’s care. No one knows that better than Jugroop Brar and his two brothers, whose 89-year-old father, Dr. Harbans Brar, a retired paediatrician, was admitted to Brampton Civic Hospital’s Emergency Department following a serious heart attack.
“He was very ill and, after undergoing an initial procedure, he began experiencing chest pain again,” said Jugroop. “Dr. Hussain was incredibly thoughtful and thorough in explaining the options available to our father, including performing a second high-risk procedure.”
Dr. Farrukh Hussain, one of Osler’s highly skilled interventional cardiologists, had performed an initial coronary angioplasty on Dr. Brar and inserted two stents in his heavily calcified left artery. Although the procedure was successful, while recovering in hospital Dr. Brar began experiencing recurring chest pains a few days later.
“Given his age, the initial procedure was high risk, so we were happy he came through the angioplasty quite well,” said Dr. Hussain, who noted that Dr. Brar was fully engaged in conversations about his care, along with his sons, throughout his time at Osler. “The ongoing chest pains, however, were a serious concern, leading to some in-depth discussions with Dr. Brar and his family about possible next steps.”
Among the options discussed was returning Dr. Brar to the cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab) for a longer innovative procedure to address some severe blockages in an artery. Before discussing this option with the patient and his family, Dr. Hussain consulted with several colleagues at Osler and a downtown Toronto hospital about this next possible option for care.
“Dr. Hussain took the time to have difficult discussions with our family about our father’s care, the options available to support his quality of life, insights shared by his colleagues, and the potential risks associated with the procedure,” said Jugroop. “In the end, we all had confidence in Dr. Hussain’s expertise and skills, and were pleased he was willing to perform this procedure on our father.”
After adapting and using what is known as a blocking wire technique, Dr. Hussain also used a chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention, a highly advanced, minimally-invasive technique that he and his colleague, Dr. Shy Amlani, started performing at Osler four years ago to support patients with multi-vessel disease.
“After a lot of effort, we were able to insert three stents and open the vessel with a good clinical outcome,” said Dr. Hussain. “Thanks to generous community support, we have the sophisticated equipment to perform leading edge interventions like this.”
“Innovation takes a true team effort, and the biggest part of that team is the patient and the family. The confidence they showed in us to proceed pushed us to come up with a novel procedure that we now believe will help other people, like Dr. Brar.”
Over the past five years, Osler’s two Cath Labs have achieved the best acute and stable percutaneous coronary intervention outcomes in Ontario, and are currently the third best in Canada.
For Dr. Masud Khandaker, Osler’s Corporate Chief and Medical Director, Cardiovascular Health System, this is only the tip of the iceberg for cardiovascular care in the region. “Osler’s cardiovascular program is not only growing, but it’s attracting a highly skilled team of cardiologists who specialize in areas like cardiac catheterization, structural heart disease and cardio-oncology. We’re harnessing the latest in technology and clinical expertise to deliver the very best cardiac care, close to home.”
Jugroop is incredibly grateful that this skilled expertise was available to his father. “We appreciate everyone who participated in my father’s care. It’s impressive that this level of care is available at my father’s local community hospital, and we can’t thank Dr. Hussain enough.”
Dr. Hussain is quick to point out that the cath lab isn’t an isolated entity. A patient’s outcome is also dependent on pre and post care, and is a true team effort. “Our ability to grow and evolve and deliver excellent patient outcomes is thanks to a team committed to delivering the best possible care to our patients.”
Thanks to Dr. Hussain and his team’s intervention, Dr. Harbans Brar has returned home, is pain free, and is looking forward to his 90th birthday!
Read about more Osler doctors making a difference.
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