877 heart attack patients treated under Karnataka Health Department’s STEMI programme

A total of 877 patients have been diagnosed and treated for heart attacks under phase I of the state health department’s STEMI Karnataka Heart Attack Management programme, launched last March.

They were among the 56,484 patients who presented with chest pain to rural hospitals, according to a press release from the health department.

According to the department, 96,150 people in Karnataka are annually estimated to be affected by severe heart attacks causing sudden deaths.

The System of Care for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) programme aims to ensure treatment in the golden hour which will reduce deaths. The programme has a hub-and-spoke model, wherein tertiary hospitals with cath labs function as hubs, and taluk and district hospitals as spokes.

The spoke hospitals and their ambulances have an ECG-integrated monitoring unit, and remote diagnosis is done by the cardiologist in the hub hospitals or by a remote panel of doctors using AI. Patients needing interventions are then sent to the hub hospitals. Currently, under the phase I, the STEMI is functioning in 15 districts, across 45 spoke hospitals and three hub hospitals (Bengaluru, Mysuru and Kalaburagi branches of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research Hospitals). The Phase I has a budget of Rs 3.8 crore.

Under phase II, Heart Attack Management Program will be implemented in the remaining 16 districts, with through seven hub and 41 spoke hospitals. A budget of Rs 5 crore has been approved for this phase. This phase will also include the placement of Automated External Defibrillator devices in public places like bus and railway stations, and court complexes.

According to the press release, the department will soon replace the thrombolytic (clot-dissolving) Streptokinase injection with the safer, more effective Tenecteplase injection. The injection, costing Rs 25,000 per vial, will be free for patients in the spoke hospitals.

A proposal has also been sent to the government to increase the population covered under the programme in the next two financial years.

The World Heart Day is observed on September 29.