Doctors at the Westbank Narayana Heart Centre

Astapada Maity, 58, of Bagnan, felt acute chest pain in the afternoon of May 11. He contacted a local doctor who advised hospitalisation. He went to Sister Nivedita Hospital but it did not have facilities for heart treatment and was referred by them to Westbank Hospital.

When Maity arrived at Westbank Narayana Heart Centre, he was already in acute distress. “I saw the patient at one in the morning of May 12. He was having acute chest pain for 9 hours and was sweating profusely. He was in dire distress,” said Dr Munna Das, consultant, interventional cardiologist and electrophysiologist at the Westbank Narayana Heart Centre. He recommended a primary angioplasty but the patient’s family wasn’t in a position to secure money for the procedure. “We gave him an injection of Streptokynase to restore his blood flow but his blood pressure kept deteriorating. His kidneys were getting affected,” said the doctor.

In such a situation, Das decided to do a rescue angioplasty on Maity. “We sucked out the clot with aspiration catheter from the coronary artery and did stenting, ie inserted metal tubes in the artery that caused restoration of blood flow. Soon his blood pressure went up and he was stable,” said the doctor. Maity was discharged after two days on May 14 and is now recuperating at home, leading a near normal life.

Rescue angioplasty is a risky procedure and this was the first time that it was conducted in Howrah at the Westbank Narayana Heart Centre that opened in April. “Since the patient’s condition was deteriorating and he was turning critical, I decided to go for rescue angioplasty. The mortality rate in such conditions in 30 to 40 per cent,” said Das.

Maity, who is recuperating at home, said: “By God’s grace I am alive. Dr Das at Westbank rescued me.” Recounting his ailment, Maity, a businessman said: “I’ve never had such acute chest pain before. When I came to Westbank, they admitted me to the ICU and did an angiography and ECG. I was told to pay Rs 1 lakh for treatment. On May 12, I was taken to the OT and the doctor did an angioplasty on me. I was released on May 14.”

Maity went for a check-up 15 days later. “He was doing fine. His right ventricular function had fully recovered and his heart pump function was good. He was leading a near normal life both in terms of quality and quantity,” said Das. Maity, too, was feeling good. “I am still a bit weak but I am hugely satisfied with the treatment I got at Westbank. I will go back to the doctor again after a month for a check-up,” said the businessman who was poorer by Rs 1,91,000 after his treatment.

• Westbank Narayana Heart Centre,
• 120/1, Andul Road, Howrah – 711103, West Bengal.
• Contact Number for the hospital
• 98742 06206
• OPD started April 3, 2013
• IPD started April 26, 2013