Cath Lab at Gandhi Hospital a boon to poor patients Premium

HYDERABAD

In May this year, Health Minister Harish Rao inaugurated a Cath Lab at Gandhi Hospital. This facility has benefited thousands of people within six months of its inauguration.

Gandhi Hospital has witnessed more number of surgeries and diagnostic tests compared to Osmania General Hospital and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Warangal.

With the growing number of diabetes and hypertension cases in the country as well as Telangana, which in turn is leading to a lot of heart attacks among the general population, such facilities act as a boon in improving healthcare, especially in government hospitals.

Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital Dr. Raja Rao said, “A total of 386 angiograms, 127 PTCAs and 6,013 2D Echos have been performed at the hospital since September; 158 angiograms, 53 PTCAs and 2,224 2D Echos in November itself. Also, a total of 553 people were treated under the Aarogyasri scheme since the opening of the Cath Lab.”

A Cath Lab is a facility inside a hospital that has diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualise the arteries and chambers of the heart so that any abnormality if detected, can be treated immediately. The tests done at Gandhi Hospital’s Cath Lab include Coronary Angiogram, 2D Echocardiography, permanent pacing and Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA), among others. One unit of cardiologists and doctors, a professor, an assistant professor and six PG students are in charge of the lab.

Gandhi Hospital was opened in 1851 as an infirmary of three wards. It was developed into a cantonment hospital in 1900 with 95 beds and finally, became a teaching hospital in 1958. The hospital has the distinction of being the first open heart surgery centre in united Andhra Pradesh.