Heart failure poses a huge disease burden specifically in an ageing society. It is a leading cause of death world over. Lack of awareness on heart failure, its symptoms, treatment options and management amongst the general population significantly increases risk of morbidity and mortality. There is an overt noise and overdose on chest pain and angioplasty in the city but there is hardly any awareness on the ever increasing burden of heart failure caused by coronary artery disease thereby underdiagnosing this critical, manageable condition in our city.
Keeping that in mind and feeling the need of the hour, Arneja Heart Hospital, Nagpur has come forward to launch the “Heart Failure Clinic & Advanced Therapy Program” for the people of Central India.
Dr. JaspalArneja, Director and Senior Interventional Cardiologist AHI says “Heart Failure Clinic is popular and well accepted concept in the Western world, does provide a comprehensive consultation for managing the condition and thus to improve the quality of life. We want to give better healthcare to every individual who comes to AHI and as part of this ongoing effort we have launched the Heart Failure Clinic today. The next step will be cadaveric heart transplant. We are very keen to make it possible”
“The main objective of setting up of ‘Heart Failure Clinic’ is to provide advanced cardiac services to the people suffering severe heart related diseases. “Heart Failure Clinic’ which will intervene the heart related conditions of the people and save them from fatal heart failures,” informed Dr. JaspalArneja.
It is estimated that the number of heart failure cases are rising at an alarming rate in Nagpur with an estimate of 8-9000 new cases are being registered yearly. “Our idea behind launching this dedicated clinic is to ensure that each and every heart failure patient who visits our hospital receives highest standard of care for chronic heart failure thus improving their quality of life. “We are committed towards offering individualized care in a warm and friendly environment at our heart failure clinic,” said Dr. Amar Amale, Senior Cardiologist of Arneja Heart Hospital
Arneja Heart Hospital, will provide all the cardiac services a Heart Failure Patient needs under one roof so patients don’t have to be shuffled to multiple places. Decisions will be made by the team based on the medical details of each patient which will allow them to choose the best and most efficient treatment options,” said Dr. Avinash Sharma, Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery, Arneja heart Hospital, Nagpur.
Dr. JaspalArnejainformed the gathering that patients with chronic heart failure are admitted to the hospital an average of three times a year and 25 to 30 per cent of the patients die within a year of initial diagnosis.He further said that heart failure is a serious concern and if not addressed on time, it may escalate to catastrophic proportions. “Heart failure doesn’t mean that the heart has stopped working. It means that the heart is unable to pump adequate blood and as a result, the body stops receiving enough oxygen leading to breathlessness, swelling over legs and fluid retention.”
Dr. Amar Amale added“Most people think Heart Failure means Heart Attack. Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. In some cases, the heart can’t fill with enough blood. In other cases, the heart can’t pump blood to the rest of the body with enough force. Some people have both problems. The term “heart failure” doesn’t mean that your heart has stopped or is about to stop working. However, heart failure is a serious condition that requires medical care,”
Current estimates indicate that there might be more than 2 million patients suffering from Heart Failure in India at any given time. Arneja heart Hospital has taken major, new initiatives to bring qualitative change in ways to treat heart failure in central India. Other pioneering initiatives by Arneja Hospital include establishing successful trans-catheter aortic valve replacement program, Master teaching program for young upcoming cardiologists, Complex cases workshops.etc.
Dr.SaurabhVarshney, Cardiovascular & thoracic surgeon, Arneja Heart hospital, said, “Patients with heart failure are diagnosed by a cardiologist first and later, a team of experts will tailor a treatment plan for the patient.”
