Chennai: The Centre of Excellence (CoE) in cardiology at Kauvery Hospital, Chennai, said it has performed South India’s first laser assisted primary angioplasty on a 52-year-old man from Kolkata.
The patient was admitted to hospital 13 hours after the onset of chest pain, and had severe blockage in his coronary arteries (blood vessels of heart).
The ‘golden hour’ for a heart attack is generally one hour, and this ‘window of opportunity’ may extend up to six hours, but chances of success and survival are highest when experienced cardiologists intervene with appropriate technology.
Explaining about the need of urgency for this extremely critical patient, Dr R Anantharaman,
senior consultant interventional cardiologist, Kauvery Hospital said, “A heart attack ensues from the build-up of a clot (thrombus) at the site of a ruptured plaque which is made up of cholesterol deposits on the walls of the blood vessels (coronary arteries) that carry oxygen to the muscles of the heart. As times passes more clots will accumulate, cutting off the blood flow, and irreversibly damaging the heart muscles (acute myocardial infarction). If there is no medical intervention, it could be fatal.”