Tasnuva expresses how she is feeling after implanting mechanical heart

A team of physicians led by Dr Jahangir Kabir placed a mechanical heart – Left Ventricular Assist Device (AVAD) – in the heart of a 42-year-old woman Tasnuva at the capital’s United Hospital on March 02, for the first time in Bangladesh.

The patient Tasnuva is doing perfectly well. She came up with a response that he has been living a normal life with the mechanical heart.
Tasnuva spoke about her recovery after attending a programme titled ‘Success and Future Planning for Mechanical Heart Implants’ at the United House in Santarkul, Dhaka on Sunday (March 28).

With a wide smile, Tasnuva said, “I have been suffering from heart problems since 2016. I have taken many treatments outside the country. However, the physical condition did not improve much. I was waiting for death because I could not get the necessary treatment by flying abroad for about a year and a half. Then, I visited Jahangir Kabir the United Hospital. I’m now currently doing well with the advice and treatment of Jahangir Kabir. That is why I am grateful to all the doctors.”

Tasnuva’s husband Mostafizur Rahman is businessman by profession. He is also very happy with his wife’s recovery. He said, “I treated my wife at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. Then I did it in Malaysia as well. At the end of a visit to many countries, with the advice of a relative we came to visit Dr Jahangir Kabir at the United Hospital. He gives us hope and asked to have surgery. At first, he talked about 90 percent success but then he told about 95 percent success. Although we did not agree at first, we later agreed for the surgery with Jahangir’s assurance. Alhamdulillah, 25 days after the surgery, my wife is now completely doing well.”

Dr Jahangir Kabir who led the surgery team said, “This is the first surgery in Bangladesh but it has been done in the world before a long time. Due to the reluctance and cost, patients in our country do not agree for such surgery so far. The fact is that the country’s doctors are also world class and they too can successfully treat many complex diseases- this surgery is an example of our ability.”

He said, “Even 20 years ago, we did not get heart patients for surgery in private hospitals. There was no such treatment anywhere except the government hospital. Patients had slowly been dying of the disease after suffering for long days. Bringing people’s confidence was an important issue. We did not have that situation at the private level. Since then, I have worked to create an atmosphere of trust. Heart treatment has now started in many private hospitals in Bangladesh. We are currently doing a lot of heart surgeries with the latest technologies.”

"There are many good and experienced doctors in our country," said Professor ABM Abdullah, the PM's personal physician. 

Dr ABM Abdullah, the prime minister’s personal physician, said, “We have a lot of good and experienced physicians in our country. There are now machineries. We have many achievements. When Dr Jahangir Kabir performed a mechanical heart implant on a woman, the next day, a well-known doctor from America called me and asked that our doctors really perform such a modern and complex surgery? Did it succeed or not? I was smiling along with feeling proud. Hopefully, there will be many more such surgeries in our private medical sector in the future. Physicians from other countries will be shocked to see and hear this.”