With a view to evolve a standardised mode of treatment for suspected case of coronary artery disease (CAD), an expert committee of cardiologists under well known cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan has compiled a set of guidelines for general practitioners and healthcare institutes. The committee was constituted by MSD Pharmaceuticals Private Ltd.

The guidelines document has been compiled into a booklet, and is being distributed to the Cardiology Society of India members across the country. The committee was supported by MSD through an unrestricted educational grant for the purpose of the development of this document. As per the study report, 2.78 million deaths are caused due to cardiovascular disease, which accounts for over 50 per cent of total deaths each year in India.

Speaking to Pharmabiz, committee coordinator Dr V K Chopra said, "All available published literature from the country was analysed and after initial discussions, the panel was divided into three groups; to formulate recommendations for primary and secondary prevention; to the management of acute coronary syndromes; and for interventional strategies, catheter based and surgical."

Dr Naresh Trehan presented the first consensus report on cardiac guidelines. These guidelines are a culmination of the research work and deliberations recorded by the expert committee, and were presented at the Annual Scientific Session of the Cardiac Society of India, 2007.

It is a well-known fact that CAD is more prevalent and behaves in a virulent manner in Indians than in any other ethnic group. This is because of our genetic make-up, our characteristic lipid abnormalities and high incidence of diabetes mellitus leading to more diffuse disease. A high incidence of renal insufficiency often co-exists.

Additionally, there are socio-economic factors such as lack of insurance for a vast majority of patients, inadequate medical facilities in vast areas and a huge difference in the quality of medical care available in the different regions of our country. To address these issues and to modify some of the European guidelines for population, a consensus panel was formed in 2006, consisting of experienced cardiologists and cardiac surgeons representing different regions of our country. The expert committee comprises of a distinguished group of 24 doctors in the field.

In line with the objective of setting standards in promoting best medical practices, Dr Trehan further emphasized that "This effort would be worthwhile only if it translates into better quality of care for our patients."

Talking about further expansion plans of committee, Dr Trehan said, "We need more population based studies in our country. Centres of public health are being set up to look into this and other diseases, which is a private-public cooperative venture. The plan now is to hold educational meetings across the country to apprise as many physicians as possible about this data and request them to put these suggestions into practice for helping them for their patients in a better and more uniform measure. We also plan to hold further meetings of this committee once in two years depending upon when newer relevant data has become available".