Probe team makes recommendations

The three- member committee appointed to probe the four deaths at the Cardiology Institute of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka submitted its interim report to Dr. Palitha Mahipala, DirectorGeneral of Health Services, on Friday,

Even before we submitted the report, as we cannot take any risks with the lives of our patients, we recommended the immediate withdrawal of that particular batch of contrast media used in angiograms after which four people died, the committee’s Chairperson, Dr. Lakshmi Somatunga who is also the Deputy Director- General Medical Services 1, told the Sunday Times. The other members of the investigation team are the Chief Executive Officer of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority, Dr. Kamal Jayasinghe and the Senior Assistant Secretary of the Health Ministry, Rohana de Silva.

Two other patients who were also affected in a similar manner, one critically, have recovered, it is learnt.

While Dr. Somatunga said that “most probably” the cause was the contrast media, the committee will be able to come to a final conclusion only after the postmortem findings on the patients come in and a chemical analysis of the contents of the bottles of the contrast media is carried out.

“We will have to await the pathological postmortem as well as laboratory investigation results and reliability checks on the contrast media itself. We will also get an independent third party to carry out a chemical analysis of the contrast media,” she said, adding that it had been supplied by a company in the west which had been doing so for a long time now. heart surgeons ( cardiac surgeons).

During an angiogram, a thin tube ( catheter) is passed into a blood vessel in the groin (femoral artery or vein) or just above the elbow (radial artery) and is guided to the section of the body under investigations. Thereafter, an iodine dye or contrast materi- When asked whether the same batch of contrast media had been sent to other hospitals, Dr. Somatunga said that it was “mainly used by the NHSL”.

The four patients, one man and three women, who underwent angiograms did not die during the procedure but in the ward, NHSL Deputy Director Dr. Cyril de Silva told the Sunday Times, adding that two others were also affected. However, one of them, a male patient has recovered and been discharged and the other female patient who was on ventilation has also recovered and been moved to the ward from the Intensive Care Unit.

Explaining that there are five units under different Consultant Cardiologists at the NHSL’s Cardiology Institute, he said that two of seven patients who underwent angiograms on November 27 in Catheterization Laboratory ( Cath Lab) 2, died after the procedure was concluded and were back in the ward. Meanwhile, two of 13 patients who underwent angiograms on November 28 in Cath Lab 1 also died after being taken to the ward. Two of the four patients who died had also undergone stenting.

When asked how the contrast media could have affected some and not others, Dr. de Silva pointed out that though it could be the same batch, it may have been some bottles which were the cause.

While reiterating that some of the patients who undergo angiograms are affected by severe heart disease with lots of risks, he said that when looking at this unfortunate incident, the “common factor” was the contrast dye.

“Don’t fear angiograms,” Dr. de Silva urged the public, stressing that it is needed to identify heart disease and save lives. al is injected into the vessel to make the section clear on X-rays.

Sometimes during an angiogram if severe blockages of heart vessels are detected, the Cardiologists will use the catheter to open a blocked blood vessel using a balloon (angioplasty) or insert a stent, to help resume the blood flow.