10 December 2009

DR.BIMAL CHHAJER
EDITORIAL

CT ANGIOGRAPHY IS GRADUALLY BECOMING MORE POPULAR AND I HAVE SEEN THESE SCANNERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN MANY CITIES PTHER THAN THE METROS. TO MY MIND THIS IS THE MOST SCIENTIFIC, MOST ACCURATE AND NON-INVASIVE WAY OF FINDING OUT A BLOCKAGE IN THE CORONARY ARTERIES. IT HAS NO SIDE EFFECTS, X-RAY RADIATION IS ABOUT 100 TIMES LESS THAN CATHETER ANGIOGRAPHY. THE DYE USED HAS NOW IMPROVED AND HAS ONLY SOME MINOR ALLERGIC PROBLEM IN VERY FEW. IT IS AN OUT PATIENT PHENOMENON. THE COST IS GRADUALLY BECOMING LOWER AND LOWER. THE OTHER DAY WHEN I WAS THERE IN BANGALORE, I HAD A LONG MEETING WITH DR. B. G. MURLIDHARA ONE OF THE CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY SPECIALISTS WHO ALSO PROMOTS CT CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY. ACCORDING TO HIM THIS REPORT MATCHES VERY WELL WITH CATHETER ANGIOGRAPHY AND HE HAS MORE THAN 100 CASES WHERE THE MATCHING IS ALMOST CENT PERCENT. IT IS HE WHO HAS AGREED TO DO 64 SLIDE CT ANGIOGRAPHY FOR SAAOL PATIENTS AT RS.6,500/- ONLY. THIS WILL BE LOWEST RATE EVER THAT WAS POSSIBLE. THINK THAT ONE JUST WALKS TO A CENTRE, SPENDS RS.6500/- AND AFTER FIVE MINUTES COMES TO KNOW ALL HIS BLOCKS WITHOUT ANY INVASION! ALREADY IN MUMBAI THIS TEST IS AVALABLE FOR RS.7000/- AND FOR RS.8000/- IN HYDERABAD. I HAVE TO TRY AND LOWER THE RATES IN LOLKATA, DELHI AND CHENNAI. I AM PREDICTING THAT FEW YEARS DOWN THE LINE THIS TEST WILL BE USED TO SCREEN THE HEART PATIENTS AT THE ENTRY LEVEL AND WILL REPLACE BOTH TMT OR ANGIOGRAPHY. ONLY THOSE WHO WISH TO UNDERGO BYPASS SURGERY OR ANGIOPLASTY NEED TO UNDERGO INVASIVE CATHETERIZATION. IN MY LATEST BOOK (POCKET GUIDE) TO BE PUBLISHED THIS WEEK I HAVE NOTED THREE BIG DISADVANTAGES OF CATHETER CORONARY ANGIOGRAMS. THESE ARE INVASIVNESS OR COMPLICATIONS, INACCURACY AND LASTLY THE SCARE AND PRESSURE FROM THE HEART DOCTORS FOR NEXT OPERATION. WE ARE ANNOUNCING MANY FUTURE PLANS AND ONE OF THEM IS SAAOL ADVANCE CAMP CUM HOLIDAY IN BANGALORE FROM 2ND TO 5TH JUNE. I AM ALSO DOING A ONE DAY CAMP IN YAMUNA NAGAR IN HARYANA ON 25TH MARCH, 2007. WE PLAN TO SPREAD NATURAL BYPASS AND BIOCHEMICAL ANGIOPLASTY ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND THERE ARE MANY ENQUIRIES FOR FRANCHISEES FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. DR, BIMAL CHHAJER MD