Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Apr 1: Hundreds of patients at Government Medical College Baramulla are suffering in absence of a cath laboratory.
Officials said that cardiac catheterization lab, also known as a “cardiac cath lab,” is a specialized area in the hospital where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and advanced cardiac procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease.
They said that the cardiology unit is functional at GMC Baramulla but in absence of a cath lab they refer patients with minor or major heart attack to Srinagar.
The first hour after a heart attack is known as “the golden hour.” Taking appropriate action within this first hour can save a patient’s life, they said, adding that most deaths due to cardiac arrest happen during this period.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 47% of deaths occur due to sudden cardiac arrests before an individual reaches the hospital.
“If a patient who has suffered a heart attack reaches the hospital within the golden hour, cardiologists and trained emergency physicians are in a better position to run the appropriate tests and scans to confirm the occurrence of a heart attack and take the patient to the catheterization laboratory (simply called ‘cath lab’), where an interventional cardiac procedure called a primary angioplasty is performed to clear the cause of most heart attacks — plaque build-up that blocks the artery/arteries,” they said.
However, in absence of a cath lab no angiography or angioplasty facilities are available at the hospital due to which patients most of time lost their golden time in reaching SKIMS or SMHS hospital.
Doctors said that if a cath lab will be established at the hospital, it can help in saving lives of dozens of patients who lost their golden period in travelling to Srinagar.
Locals from North Kashmir said that the Cardiology unit at the hospital has been made functional just a few months back but there is immediate need of a cath lab as well.
There is an immediate need for a full fledged cardiology unit at GMC Baramulla which will cater cardiology related patients of entire north Kashmir, they said.
Notably, a cath lab has special imaging equipment used to see the arteries and check how well blood is flowing to and from the heart. This information helps the care team to diagnose and treat blockages and other problems in the arteries.
Principal GMC Baramulla Dr Ruby Reshie said that a cath lab is in pipeline and it will be established as soon as possible.
She said that it may take some time as of now till the new hospital building is completed as there is no space in the existing hospital.
The cath lab will be established, she added.
