Chennai: With recent reports stating that heart diseases account for about 19 per cent of all deaths in India, and that as many as 32,339 persons had died in Chennai of heart failure last year alone, doctors and researchers have been taking matters into their hands by introducing new techniques of treatment.
“The rate of deaths due to heart attack is increasing especially among the youth of Tamil Nadu. Cardio-vascular deaths in Tamil Nadu is 24 to 30 per cent of all deaths,” said Anand Gnanaraj, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Specialty Hospitals, Vanagaram.Considering the need to reduce the death rates due to the disease in Tamil Nadu, Apollo Hospital, Vanagaram, launched the CrossBoss Catheter in Tamil Nadu.
A decade ago, it was seen that most patients with 100 per cent blocked arteries were either managed medically or sent for surgery with long recovery periods before they returned to their regular routine. However, with development in technology, it has been found that today all these blocks can be cleared in angioplasty that can be performed successfully in a few hours.
“The Cross Boss Catheter, which is the latest technology int-roduced in India for the treatment of 100 per cent blocked arteries, can be used to cross the 100 per cent block, either through the tough lesions or can travel behind the blocked segment and exit beyond the lesi-on,” said Anand. “A StingRay Balloon is used to get back into the actual passage of the blood vessel using specialised wires,” he explained.Arun Kalyanasundaram, Specialist in Interventional Cardiology, Seattle Heart and Vascular Institute, introduced the method to doctors.
