Primary Angioplasty

Your chest feels heavy. You're having trouble breathing, and you've been exhausted for days. You realize you may be having a heart attack, and the ambulance is on its way.

The medical treatment you receive in the next few hours could save your life. That's why Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital is now treating heart attack patients with the most effective and advanced procedure available - primary angioplasty. It is the preferred treatment for heart attack according to the American College of Cardiology.

Heart attacks are caused when blocked arteries prevent the heart from receiving oxygen. Traditional treatment uses drugs to dissolve blood clots. While effective, it does not treat the underlying cause of the blockage, resulting in possible re-hospitalization and further procedures. With primary angioplasty a balloon is inflated to open the clogged artery and a stainless steel wire mesh, called a stent, is inserted. This acts as a scaffold to keep the artery open. The result: blockages are completely cleared, heart damage is lessened, the risk of stroke and/or subsequent heart attack are reduced and the hospital stay is shortened.

"There are basically two ways to treat someone having a heart attack,". "One way is to use clot-dissolving medications. But they only work about 70 percent of the time and do not address the underlying blockage. The safest way to treat an acute heart attack and avoid subsequent procedures is to open the blocked artery with a balloon and insert a stent. We have the trained personnel and the equipment to perform emergency primary angioplasty right away on our heart attack patients."

Patients experiencing symptoms of a heart attack are evaluated within minutes of arriving in the casualty department at the Hospital. When the diagnosis is a heart attack, most patients are transferred immediately to the catheterization lab for emergency balloon angioplasty. The interventional Cardiologist inserts a balloon-tipped catheter into the artery, threading it towards the heart. When the balloon is inflated, it dislodges the obstruction and restores blood flow to the heart. A wire mesh stainless steel tube called a stent is inserted to keep the cleared artery open, acting as scaffolding to keep the artery open.

Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital is now offering emergency primary angioplasty. Primary angioplasty complements the comprehensive cardiac services provided at the hospital - from the patient's doorstep and transport to the hospital with our cardiac ambulance units to their safe return home. Don't ignore the warning signs of a heart attack - chest pain with or without nausea, shortness of breath, vomiting, profuse sweating, breathlessness, fainting, weakness, intense feelings of dread. Call us at 9819500071. The sooner treatment starts the better. While you wait, chew on an aspirin to help dissolve the blood clot.

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