PUNE: “Angioplasty through radial route renders significant benefits to patients as it brings down hospital stay by one-third,” said Dr Manohar Sakhare, who is currently working as a senior interventional cardiologist at Yashica Heart Care, Pune.
He was addressing a press conference on safer options in heart attack treatments.
He added that in Europe, the United States of America and Japan, the preferred route is through the wrist as it has lower bleeding risk, least chances of local complications and very high level of patient convenience.
“Prevalence of wrist route angioplasty is just 8-10 per cent in India, hence, many heart patients remain deprived of the benefits of new-age technology. With the radial route, it is possible to discharge patients within 24 hours of admission. This translates into the direct benefit of cost-saving to the patient,” said Dr Sakhare.
He said that the radial route should be a preferred choice for obese and female patients as complication risks are high in these subset population group.
Wrist route percutaneous transcatheter procedures have established patient safety over other routes, however, it still not practised at most of the places in India. This is primarily due to lack of familiarity with wrist route and older operators unwilling to change their methods.
Dr Sakhare said, the need for Percutaneous Transcatheter coronary procedure, popularly known as angioplasty with stent, is fast growing because of the rampant rise in the incidences of heart attacks.
“A recent study has reported 87 per cent rise in deaths from Cardio-Vascular Diseases (CVD) and a 72 per cent rise in the prevalence of coronary heart disease. Patients admitted in hospital following a heart attack are advised angiography and then angioplasty, if needed. The procedures are minimally invasive and are performed by inserting a soft hollow tube, either through the groin area or through the wrist,” said Dr Sakhare.
