Going by the high incidence sudden cardiac arrest which accounts for more than half of all heart disease deaths in India, Fortis acquired Wockhardt recently saved a patient and now intends to create a massive awareness about its prevention by use of 'Electrophysiology' which can help handle such emergencies.
In India the annual incidence of sudden cardiac death is 0.55 per 1,000 population. But it constitutes 40 to 45 per cent of cardiovascular deaths and of this almost 80 per cent are due to heart rhythm disturbances or arrhythmia which is the most common and instant killer as the survival rate is less than one per cent. This is where Electrophysiology which deals with Heart Rhythm disorders needs to be given ample focus, said Dr Paul S Thoppil, consultant cardiologist & Electrophysiologist, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore.
Sudden Cardiac death occurs when the heart's electrical system malfunctions and the heart stops pumping with no warning signs. In order to decrease the chances of a sudden cardiac death, healthy diet, exercise and regular check ups are an answer to control and prevent the life style disorders, he added.
Fortis-Wockhardt received an emergency where a patient Dr Jitendra Singh, an anaesthetist practising in Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) suffered a cardiac arrest was associated with ventricular fibrillation (VF). The patient who was in Bangalore complained of chest pain and was rushed to Fortis-Wockhardt Hospital Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore where he almost collapsed. The team led by Dr Thoppil diagnosed it as a sudden cardiac arrest and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a patient to a stable state. Continuous closed cardiac massage and multiple defibrillations helped to induce heart rhythm which was followed by an emergency angiogram which revealed cent percent right heart artery blockage and clots.
In order to increase the number of survivals, Fortis-Wockhardt is now a creating an awareness campaign about previous heart attack. Around 75 per cent of the people who die of SCD show signs of a previous heart attack. Coronary artery disease accounts for 80 per cent of the condition. Increased risks are for those patients who have an abnormal heart rate arrhythmia of unknown cause or an unusually rapid heart rate (tachycardia) that comes and goes, even when the person is at rest or episodes of fainting, low ejection fraction by the ventricles with each heart beat.