New dimension in Cardiovascular Care
Cardiovascular diseases continue to be a serious health threat in our community and heart attack continues to be the number one killer disease worldwide.
So, the need for advanced diagnostic and treatment tools like what we have in our Cath Lab is of immense importance. Having such a facility in Sohar means we are able to provide the benefits of this advanced technology to the affected people living or working in the surroundings. This is also a blessing to the people of Sohar because in treatment of ‘heart attack’, time is very important and ‘minutes mean muscle’.
Badr Al Samaa Sohar hospital has started its journey of interventional cardiology since August 2023. Most probably, this hospital is the newest one in Oman to successfully add Cath Lab technology in its cardiac care facilities.
Having cardiac catheterisation facilities in any hospital is one of the most significant parts of providing cardiac care to the patients – because only then, a wide range of modern treatment facilities can be provided to the needful patients.
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical, invasive procedure with a goal to relieve the narrowing or occlusion of the coronary artery and improve blood supply to the ischemic (deprived of adequate blood supply) tissue. This is usually achieved by different methods, the most common being ballooning the narrow segment and deploying a stent to keep the artery open.
Many of us possibly came across the term ‘acute ST elevated Myocardial Infarction’. This is the most life-threatening form of heart attacks where one of the major coronary arteries (supplying blood to the heart muscle) is totally blocked.
As a result of the ensuing large insult to the heart muscles supplied by that particular artery, there is irreversible damage to those muscles within few hours. A significant number of patients die before reaching hospital, another big percentage of patients who can reach hospital, also succumb to death due to late or improper treatment. Such patients need such a treatment which is effective, efficient and timely.
The concept of ‘Primary PCI’ in treating such patients is well established. Here, within shortest possible time after the onset of heart attack, patient is prepared and taken to the cath lab for a coronary angiogram to identify the blocked artery and the block is removed and a stent is placed in that area to prevent the re-collapse of the artery. In this way the affected heart muscles are reperfused.
By many randomised clinical trials, it is now well validated that primary PCI is the best available treatment for such massive heart attack patients worldwide, because this strategy causes minimum damage to heart muscle and maximum amount of heart muscle may be saved. Such a good outcome after heart attack is possible only if such patients attend the ER of the hospital having such well-equipped Cath Lab facility without wasting any time, as in Badr Al Samaa Hospital, Sohar.