Angioplasty to rescue of Covid patients

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, May 24

With the incidence of heart attack or complications during the pandemic, 36 angioplasties have been done in the past two months in the district.

“Lives of 12 patients suffering from Covid have been saved with angioplasties done in the recent past,” says Dr SS Bansal, senior intervention cardiologist of the SSB Hospital here. He said patients with co-morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and hypertension were at the highest risk in case of such infection.

Claiming that heart attacks in Covid patients could occur due to clot formation in arteries called coronaries, he said the lives of such people could be saved by emergency angioplasty of the blocked artery. “The total number of angiography and angioplasties done in April and May 2021 (to date) has been 333, of which 10 angioplasties on have been done on Covid patients,” he says, adding that the infected belonged to a wide range of age group of 30 and 79 years.

Adding that while none of the staff contracted the infection during the treatment, he said one of the patients aged 30, who hailed from Rohtak, approached our hospital after some of the others did not agree to this type of surgery due to Covid risk. While the angioplasty done on him was under the high-grade Covid fever, the patient became stable and was discharged in a good condition later, he added.

Claiming that cardiovascular diseases remain the world’s biggest killer, Dr Bansal said emergency angioplasty to any patient suffering from heart attack or unstable angina just because of Covid fear could not be denied as transmission could be prevented by using double mask and face shield for the entire staff.

According to sources in the Health Department, an average of six to eight cases of angioplasty had also been done in four other main hospitals in the city during this period. “One procedure has been performed in the local Civil hospital last month,” an official said.