CARDIAC REHABILITATION OF A PATIENT WITH BILATERAL CONGENITAL ANOPTHALMIA UNDERGOING CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFTING SURGERY

Abstract

Objective: A 60 years old male, bilaterally anophthalmic patient, presented to theout-patient department with the complaints of substernal chest pain at rest andexertional shortness of breath for the past one month. He had a past medicalhistory of congestive cardiac failure with reduced ejection fraction andhypertension for an undocumented period. The patient underwent cardiaccatheterization and coronary artery disease (CAD) was diagnosed. Coronaryartery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) was planned. Two counselling sessionswere called pre and post-operatively to educate the patient and his family abouthis condition and his visual status emphasizing the need of an individually tailoredcardiac rehabilitation program. Aural and haptic modalities were used so that thepatient could perceive better. Despite, a systematic approach the patient returnedunstable on his second follow-up visit, which suggests that a more robust andsupervised approach is needed for the rehabilitation of visually impaired patientsas they have limited mobility and accessibility.