These images taken during the end of April and early part of May in 2025 show Little stints and Kentish plovers sharing space at a saltern in Thaiyur, near Kelambakkam.
| Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK

These images taken during the end of April and early part of May in 2025 show Little stints and Kentish plovers sharing space at a saltern in Thaiyur, near Kelambakkam.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

Take in this familiar scenario; and that might make it easier to figure out why the Little stints and Kentish plovers hang out together. Two colleagues are in the same department, and they have taken residence in the quarters provided by their office (a situation usually playing out in government jobs in India). They head out for work and hit the trail back home around the same hours, and therefore end up taking the same route both ways, and become travel companions.

Now shift the focus to a saltern in Thaiyur near Kelambakkam. The wintering season is in its fag end, and during the end of April and early part of May in 2025, one has been greeted by sights of Little stints sharing space with Kentish plovers.

Similarity in their dining habits and shared routes to the wintering grounds and back to the breeding grounds make them compatible and they are at home in each other’s company.

Whoever said familiarity breeds contempt has never been introduced to the Little stint and the Kentish plover.

KOLKATA: Doctors at the state-run IPGMER (Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research) pulled off a medical feat by deploying an unusual route for stent grafting on a 66-year-old patient with a condition called aortic dissection, a medical emergency.
While the patient is recovering well, the IPGMER (SSKM) team is preparing to submit this case to medical journals as the first of its kind, at least in eastern India. This procedure, which costs around 20 lakhs in private hospitals, was entirely funded by the Bengal govt.
The patient, Shahamina Bibi, came to the IPGMER with complaints of chest pain. Investigative tests confirmed that she had aortic dissection, a condition where there is a tear in the inner layer of the aorta’s wall. This tear allows blood to flow between the aorta’s layers, causing them to separate.
This separation can compromise blood flow to vital organs and potentially cause complications like aortic rupture or cardiac arrest. It’s a medical emergency that can be life-threatening if not treated promptly.
While stent grafting via a small incision in the groin is the standard treatment, doctors found that the patient’s femoral artery was too narrow, making this traditional route risky. Cardiology and CTVS doctors came together to create an alternative way of grafting the stent by cutting open the abdomen for the procedure known as TEVAR (Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair).
A cardiology team led by Professor Saroj Mandal, with Senior Resident Sayantan Panda, and a CTVS team including Professor Subhendu Mahapatra, came together for the procedure through an incision in the abdomen.
“We conduct two to three procedures of stenting for aortic dissection every month, done via the groin. But in this case, the patient’s femoral artery was too narrow, making this route highly risky,” said Cardiologist Saroj Mandal.
Experts said that when a narrowed femoral artery makes the traditional TEVAR procedure difficult, an abdominal approach is an alternative option. In this case, doctors accessed the aorta directly through an incision in the abdomen to deliver the stent graft needed for repairing the aneurysm in the thoracic aorta.
“In this particular case, we had to explore a different access path altogether via an incision on the abdomen to introduce the stent through the device. We completed the procedure uneventfully,” said Mahapatra.
The patient is now recuperating well. The doctor team is writing a paper detailing the nitty-gritties of the procedure with the aim of submitting it to a reputed journal.
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TEVAR: