49yr old IT professional, Jayantha Kumar Choudhry was suffering from a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), wherein the heart muscle becomes stretched and thin and hence cannot pump adequately. He was suffering from this condition for over 10 years and was continuously on medications. His heart functionality was only 18% and last year in December, he started experiencing breathlessness due to which he collapsed and was admitted in the Hospital for couple of days. However, the problem is not very rare yet; the patient was unable to perform any regular task and would feel exhausted and worn out all the time.
Once he was reassured by Dr. Devananda he went ahead for registering himself for Heart transplant. He underwent 1month of preparation time before undergoing transplant. Several angiography were performed. His other parameters including lung pressure was monitored and brought down to normal levels for the success of surgery. Heart transplant went on for close to 6 hours with successfull outcome. He is recovering well and has a great support from his family. He had taken complete break for 2 months post-surgery and has resumed work now.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman Manipal Hospitals, said “We are happy to dedicate an all-encompassing clinic to manage heart failures. This concept is quite popular in western countries and has made a remarkable difference and improved the quality of life and survival for heart patients. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India. Lack of awareness and poor compliance to medical therapy are mammoth challenges that we face. This clinic is our attempt to provide integrated treatment for heart failure patients, improve quality of life by managing symptoms through diagnosis, treatment with lifestyle changes, medications, diet, surgery etc. At Manipal, we constantly endeavor to serve patients with world class technology and treatments which gives them new ray of hope each day.”
Heart Failure Management Clinic will consist of a team of cardiologists, Electrophysiologists and Cardiac Surgeons for heart care. A nutritionist for diet planning and physiotherapist to help patients recuperate. The clinic will also offer patient/care-taker education and training where the patient himself will participate to become his own caretaker. With a belief that simple monitoring tools when taught to the patient/ care-taker can be very useful in early detection of worsening and prevention of recurrent admissions for Heart failure. All patients enrolled in the clinic will get access to a coordinator who would guide them, advise them and help them schedule appointments with their doctors.
Dr. Devananda, Chairman, Cardiovascular & Thoracic surgery, Manipal Heart Institute said, “The heart commonly ‘fails’ because blood supply to its muscle is inadequate (Coronary Artery Disease). This most often occurs after a Heart attack, a condition where one the three blood vessels supplying the heart gets chocked by cholesterol and blood clot for a few hours, which ends up permanently damaging a portion of the heart muscle. The Heart may fail even without a heart attack.” “Heart failure is a major concern in India. It is estimated that there are around 8-10 million patients with heart failure in India with a prevalence of about 1% of the adult population. Indians with heart failure tend to be younger, sicker and have a slightly worse outcome compared to their western counterparts. Apart from Coronary artery disease, many usual causes of heart failure are seen in Indians. Some of these causes may be reversible if detected early and treated properly,” he added.
Speaking on the launch Dr. Ranjan Shetty, HOD, Cardiology , Manipal Hospitals said, “Heart failure symptoms include shortness of breath, particularly while lying down, and swelling of feet, ankles and legs. This clinic would serve as a centre of excellence for the clinical management of heart failure. The main causes of heart failure are blockages in the blood vessels supplying blood to the heart resulting in heart attacks and weakening of Heart Muscle. The traditional risk factors for HF are hypertension, Diabetes, Coronary artery disease, all of which are in increasing abundance in India. In our clinic we will be offering multi-disciplinary approach and tailor made therapy for each patient.”
Dr. Subhash Chandra, Consultant, Cardiology, Manipal Hospitals said, “A dedicated heart failure clinic is the need of the hour to monitor and manage the condition effectively. India has to do a lot to reduce the burden of heart failure and provide curative and rehabilitative services to these patients, which is a huge challenge. As per latest data, heart attack hits 2 million people per year leading to 1 death every 33 seconds.”
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