Dr Sanjeev Dhawan, senior cardiologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital shot dead

Dr Sanjeev Dhawan, a senior cardiologist at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was shot dead at his residence at around 3 am.

Dr Dhawan was a renowned cardiologist who was part of a path-breaking team that was working on a device which could mimic the functions of the human heart. Called the Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), it's used for patients whose hearts are too weak to pump blood. This device can substitute for a human heart for up to two weeks by pumping blood. It offered a ray of hope to thousands of patients whose hearts are too weak to survive a life-saving surgery or those waiting for heart transplants. Various institutions around the world are trying to create a miniaturised version of the LVAD to permanently replace the human heart.

Back in July, the team of cardiologists of Sir Ganga Ram, including Dr Dhawan had performed one such operation which helped a patient, Ravinder Kumar, survive for four days without his heart functioning! Though prolonged use of the device has side-effects, on the flipside it can help a patient survive for up to two weeks allowing doctors more time to correct the heart defect.

We from www.thehealthsite.com are extremely sad to see such a luminary lose his life in such a brutal manner and our thoughts are with his family and friends.

With inputs from IANS