24 January,2009 11:29 AM IST | | PTI
A coronary bypass surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began on Saturday during which doctors will replace three older grafts performed on him in 1990.
The surgery on the 76-year-old leader at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is understood to have begun at around 7:00 am and is expected to last for several hours, hospital sources said.
Singh, who has a history of heart ailments which have included a bypass surgery 18 years ago and an angioplasty six years ago, was admitted to the AIIMS here yesterday.
During the surgery, doctors from the Mumbai-based Asian Heart Institute (AHI) and AIIMS will try to develop an alternate route for the supply of blood by sidelining the blocked part using graft of arteries and vessels derived from other parts of body.
A team of 11 doctors from AHI led by Dr Ramakant Panda, a highly reputed cardiac surgeon, were performing the surgery on Singh, who has been complaining of fatigue and signs of chest pain in recent days.
He was then subjected to tests which indicated blockages. The coronary artery bypass surgery is performed when arteries get blocked and procedures like angioplasty or medicines fail to clear the blockage.
Surgeons using blood vessels from some other parts of body will create an alternate route by sidelining the blocked part to carry blood. The surgery was being undertaken at operation theatre number five at AIIMS.
Four PMs suffered ailments during their tenure
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not the only one to face health problems while holding the most powerful post in the country, as four of his predecessors suffered ailments during their tenure, including the country's first Premier Jawaharlal Nehru.
The recent was Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who in November 2000 had undergone a left knee joint replacement at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.
The 12th Prime Minister of the country, PV Narasimha Rao had a heart problem because of which he had to take repeated medical aid. Rao underwent a bypass heart surgery in the US in 1991 before taking over as the Prime Minister. He died of cardiac arrest on December 23, 2004.
Similarly, Lal Bahadur Shastri who was Prime Minister during Congress-led government between June 9, 1964 and January 11, 1966 had a heart attack soon after he took over as Prime Minister in 1964. Following the attack, he had to cancel his visit to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers conference in London.
The first Prime Minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru also suffered from heart ailments. He suffered a stroke during a Congress Session in Bhubaneswar in January 1964.
