KATRA, Feb. 12 -- In a powerful testament to accessible healthcare, a 9-year-old girl from a remote village in Kathua district has returned home with a healthy heart, having undergone a complex open-heart surgery at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Narayana Superspeciality Hospital.
On February 4, 2026, a team led by Dr. Vinod Bhan (Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon) and Dr. Romil Dutt Sharma (Consultant Cardiac Surgeon) performed the intricate procedure.
Explaining the innovation used, Dr. Vinod Bhan and Dr. Romil Dutt Sharma noted, "The child's heart valve was critically narrowed. Instead of replacing it with an expensive artificial valve that would require lifelong medication-a difficult burden for a rural family-we used a novel technique...