Fatal heart attacks need timely intervention-Dr Ankur Ahuja
KI Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
“The treatment for heart attack has improved remarkably over a period of time. Thrombolytics were discovered that could dissolve the clots, treat heart attacks and reduce the risk of death. Emergency coronary angioplasty could reduce this risk even further. But nothing so far can reduce the risk to naught.”
Dr. Ankur Ahuja, Director- Cardiology at Ivy Hospital, Mohali stated during an informative session on ‘development in cardiac treatment’ today.
He said on the other hand, there are certain heart attacks that lead to definite death, if left untreated. One such entity is a heart attack arising from occlusion of the left main coronary artery- the most important artery in the heart.
Such patients are difficult to save, even in the most advanced health care centres, he pointed out.However recently a middle-aged man suffering from same situation was treated successfully at Ivy.
Giving details of the surgery Dr Ankur informed that the patient had ongoing chest pain for last few hours. He had a large heart attack with severely compromised heart function.
His angiogram revealed total occlusion of the left main coronary artery. Emergency angioplasty of the said artery was done with adjuvant IABP support. The patient could ultimately survive the turbulent phase and now in healthy and fit, said Dr Ankur.
This is one of the best examples of optimal use of resources to get the best result of saving a precious human life, remarked Dr Ankur.
