After a gap of 20 years, the Department of Cardiology of AIIMS is going to utilise the Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) to save lives of people suffering from severe heart ailments.
Dr. Balram Bhargava, Head of Department (HOD) of cardiology department, said, "It was in 1997 that the VAD was first implanted in a patient at AIIMS. But due to its high cost, it was not used ever since. That, time the device increased the life span of a patient for over three years."
According to him, over 2-3 lakh people suffer from heart failure every year out of which about 80 thousand patients are on critical stage. If not given due attention on time, over 40 per cent of those critical patients die within a year, he said.
The unique life saving device costs around Rs 70 lakhs and the department is seeking director's approval to use it to save financially weaker patients' lives.
"The patient's relatives will be properly guided as to how to take care of the device. For the poor and needy patients, the device will cost nothing. But for those who can pay for the device, they will have to pay for it," said Dr. Bhargava.
The mechanical pump is used to support heart function and blood flow in the people who have weak hearts, said doctors, adding the device takes blood from the lower chamber of heart and helps pump it to the body.
On October 3, AIIMS is going to organise a public awareness programme on Heart Failure and Organ Donation among the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. On the same day, the department of Cardiology will launch a smart phone app HRIDAY which people can download using their smart mobile phones from the department's website.
"This is for providing better management of patients with optimum medical treatment," said Dr. Sandeep Seth, Cardiologist at AIIMS.