Diagnosed with the largest arteriovenous malformation (AVM) locally, Police Corporal Amit Bacchus is in urgent need of a lifesaving surgery and is seeking the public’s assistance in raising funds to have the procedure done.
The surgery is estimated to cost approximately $6 million.
Due to the lack of the necessary resources at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), all the materials and an intervention radiologist will have to be flown in from the United States (US).
It is also required to be done at a city hospital with a CATH laboratory or the Caribbean Heart Institute.
Speaking to Sunday Stabroek yesterday, Bacchus’ wife, Sunita Persaud’ said that he was initially evaluated on November 9, 2019, after he experienced seizures and vomiting, years after suffering an assault to the head.
His diagnosis was confirmed following a computerized tomography (CT) scan and a Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA).
The Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident was subsequently evaluated by neurosurgeon Dr Amarnauth Dukhi, who recommended minimally invasive endovascular embolization treatment.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, a brain AVM is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain.
It explains that the arteries are responsible for taking oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain, while the veins carry the oxygen-depleted blood back to the lungs and heart.
As a result, it says that a brain AVM disrupts this vital process.
An AVM, the Mayo Clinic website said, can develop anywhere in your body but occurs most often in the brain or spine. “The cause of AVMs is not clear. Most people are born with them, but they can occasionally form later in life,” it noted.
In an invited comment yesterday, Dr Dukhi described the surgery as an “expensive, extensive and delicate” procedure.
He explained that Bacchus has a large deep right temporoparietal AVM, the largest brain AVM diagnosed locally.
According to Dr Dukhi, Bacchus’ condition is currently stable. However, he said the “real risk” lies in the event that the AVM ruptures. This can result in Bacchus’ death. “It is a very large vascular malformation in his brain,” he said.
Because of the size and location, Dr Dukhi explained that it cannot be operated anywhere in the world with an open surgery. “Risk is extremely high. He will need maybe two endovascular embolization with the latest international technology of onyx and maybe a prosthesis of a vessel in his brain,” he noted.
The procedure, he said, entails services that are only available in the US.
Once the funds are secured, the surgery will be carried out a private city hospital.
However, Persaud said the family is unable to afford the surgery and so she is asking the public for their help so that Bacchus could lead a normal life again. “I am asking persons to please help us get the funds so the surgery can be completed and he can be okay,” she pleaded.
Persaud told Sunday Stabroek that she has also taken Bacchus’ medical reports to the Guyana Police Force’s welfare department and is awaiting feedback.
Persons desirous of assisting Bacchus can contact telephone numbers 669-1954 or 692-1557. Funds can also be deposited to Demerara Bank account #2013571.
