Cardiologists lament lack of infra in Bihar

PATNA: Bihar is among few states in the country where there are only six cath labs. Five of them are private. The lone cath lab in a government facility became functional in Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences recently.
Bihar is also one of the few states where DM (cardiology) degree (a superspecialty degree) is not offered in any medical college, notwithstanding the fact that the then health minister, Ashwini Chaubey, had in 2013 announced introduction of this course by the end of that year.
Not surprisingly, doctors attending the Bihar chapter’s meet of Cardiological Society of India lamented acute shortage of medical infrastructure in Bihar even as they discussed advances in the field of cardiology. The two-day meet opened at a posh hotel in the state capital on Saturday.
PMCH cardiology department’s Dr Virendra Prasad Sinha said he has to refer 10 to 15 patients every day to a private cath lab for angiography. It costs anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000, he said and added most patients from villages cannot afford it. “The DM in cardiology course also remains a non-starter. We do not produce talents even as we face dearth of talents,” Dr Sinha said.
Barring one or two, none of the government health facilities have cardiac care unit (CCU). CCUs can reduce cardiac-related mortality by 10 to 15%, say doctors.
Dr Kulbhushan S Dagar of New Delhi spoke on congenital (by birth) heart defects. Such cases are prevalent in seven to eight infants per 1000 live births in India. Though such cases can be detected during the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy, treatment is not available before the childbirth. But if it is detected before delivery, complications can be predicted beforehand and delivery is recommended at a centre where a cardiologist is available.
“It is treatable after childbirth. In most cases, one surgery is enough. The earlier it is detected, the better it is treated. Poor weight gain, recurrent lung infection, feeding problems and blueness in lips are common symptoms. If left untreated, the baby may die an untimely death,” Dr Dagar said, but regretted the bigger issue is non-availability of trained paediatric cardiologists. There are less than 100 such specialists in India. None of them is based in Bihar.
Talking about atria fibrillation, Dr M K Das of Kolkata expressed concern that 10 to 15% patients are below the age group of 30 with 5% of them having suffered a heart attack attributed to genetic history and lifestyle disorders. “Their heart problem is symptomless. Young people, especially smokers, smoking quitters and those having genetic history, must monitor their BP and sugar level regularly,” he said.
At least ten papers were presented by doctors of Bihar and other parts of the country at the meet on Saturday.