CHENNAI: A 14mm vegetative growth that had developed on the heart valve of the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa due to her sepsis (infection in the blood) was the subject of debate during the deposition of Dr Mathew Samuel Kalarikkal, the father of angioplasty in India, at the Justice (retd) A Arumughaswamy inquiry commission on Tuesday. Questions revolved around whether Jayalalithaa needed an angioplasty and the effects, if any, of the vegetation, sources said.Mathew, who is a consultant at Apollo hospital, was posed questions by the commission’s lawyer S Parthasarathy, Apollo hospital’s counsel Maimoona Badsha and VK Sasikala’s advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian.Sources present in the deposition quoted Mathew as saying that the infection was treated using antibiotics, which controlled the vegetation. Pandian said that when he asked Mathew if the vegetation caused the heart attack, he replied with a ‘No’. “She had a bundle of diseases and her cause of death was cardiac arrest due to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ( ARDS ),” Pandian quoted Mathew as saying.However, another source said that Mathew who was invited on October 25, 2016, was denied personal verification of Jayalalithaa. The source quoted Mathew as saying that he had to give an opinion on coronary angio and that he felt it was needed, but that it did not warrant an immediate procedure. “Mathew said he gave his opinion by going through the papers and not seeing the patient,” the source said.On November 25, 2016, Sasikala brought in a USA-based specialist Samin Sharma who physically verified Jayalalithaa and said he would do an angiogram. However, after consultation with England-based expert Richard Beale, it was dropped based on a risk-benefit analysis. When asked by the commission, Mathew said he was not consulted for this.Pandian quoted Mathew as saying that not going for an angiogram was a right decision as it was deliberated by experts like Dr YVC Reddy. The source said Dr Babu Abraham and Dr Senthil Kumar were also part of this deliberation.The source quoted Mathew as saying that there was a risk if the vegetation was present or if it was removed surgically and he was asked about the ultimate remedy for it.A source said Mathew also said that it was common for diabetics to have a diastolic dysfunction which Jayalalithaa had, which was not serious enough to warrant angioplasty.The other doctor to depose on Tuesday was gynaecologist Dr Sumana Manohar whose proceedings were pertaining to very sensitive issues of Jayalalithaa’s health which were deemed to be too private to be revealed, sources said. “Jayalalithaa wanted her privacy to be protected,” Pandian quoted Dr Sumana as saying.

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