The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : First cardiac meet held in city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 27, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

First cardiac meet held in city

Staff Reporter

To evolve a consensus on prevention and treatment of cardiac-related diseases

CHENNAI: The first cardiac electrophysiologists meet held over the weekend in the city discussed methods to make the procedure more cost-effective and evolve a consensus on the prevention and treatment of cardiac electrophysiology related diseases.

An electrophysiologist is a cardiologist who analyses the rhythm disturbances of the heart on the basis of electrocardiogram and prescribes either medications or does intervention procedures such as implanting pacemakers or inactivating the abnormal regions in the heart by applying electrical energy.

Nearly a third of all ailments caused by heart diseases are complicated by rhythm disturbances like very fast or slow pulse rates and sometimes irregular pulse rates, said electrophysiologist Ulhas M. Pandurangi.

Only 30-40 cardiac hospitals in the country provide this specialised therapy. People who suffer from palpitations, episodes of loss of consciousness and those who have heart failures must be studied in detail to be effectively treated, he said.

“The cost of the therapy requiring application of electrical energy and pacemaker implant ranges from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 10 lakh, depending upon the computer circuits required to treat arrhythmia.

Since almost all components required for the procedure are imported, the cost is high,” Dr. Pandurangi said.

Over 25 specialists participated in the conference organised by Madras Medical Mission.

The meet was aimed at evolving a consensus on treatment modalities for arrhythmia, making electrophysiology procedure costs reimbursable by government agencies and involving the insurance companies to cover the various electrophysiology procedures.

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