Bending forward, operating under the wrist, eyes constantly gazing the screen, grilling the wire—performing transradial angioplasty calls for a finesse,” says Dr Sanjay Chugh, calling it an affordable and custom-made cardio treatment. But unfortunately, it is available to only two out of 100 patients in the country because of a skill gap, laments the legend, who led the way in bringing the procedure to the country. “In India, transradial primary angioplasty is being done for only two per cent patients with acute coronary syndrome—mild to major cardiac issues ranging from chest pain to cardiac arrest and heart attack,” says the doctor, who is Head of Department, Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology at Jaipur National University Hospital and Medical College.
Dr Chugh is doing his bit by training the doctor fraternity through courses, live seminars, workshops and meetings, and making the life-saving procedure available to the masses. “At Bikaner Medical College, I trained the Cath Lab team, including the head of department, who is now the vice-chancellor of Rajasthan University for Health Sciences. At Durgapur Mission Hospital, I created a centre of excellence for radials and trained fresh cardiologists in three years and it is a rare place where all primary percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PCTA) is done radially,” he says.
The cardiologist is now developing his Cath Lab at Jaipur National University Hospital and Medical College by training the doctors and the team. “I want to make it a 100 per cent radial, including primary PTCA,” he says. Advancement in heart-related ailments, transradial angioplasty is a veritable boon to patients. “A bypass would require cutting open the chest, whereas transradial angioplasty is a microsurgery through the wrist. The procedure saves twice as many lives compared to angioplasty through the groin,” he says. This procedure, according to him, is well-suited to government hospitals where there is a dearth of beds and nurses as the hospital stay is minimal in the treatment.
But returning to India from Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria—a dedicated radial centre—in 2002 was like travelling back in time for Dr Chugh, as radial was unheard here. He, by dint of his catholic curiosity, learned the lifesaving procedure called transradial angioplasty from experts across the globe as from France, the UK and Canada during the 90s. And he was a trailblazer for making transradial primary angioplasty a movement.
In 2002, the AIIMS-trained doctor started doing cath procedures at Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi. “I did radials there and started discharging patients after 2.5 hours of angiogram, for the first time in the world. I even made a short film about radial procedure and feedbacks of patients,” he says.
Thanks to his tireless efforts, over 700 top cardiologists of the world will meet at Jaipur National University Hospital for the ninth ‘Radial Live’ on February 10-11 to frame guidelines for
Transradial Interventions that is set to put in framework for the procedure.
looking forward to
■ Framing guidelines for Transradial Interventions that is set to put in framework for the procedure at the 9th ‘Radial Live’ in Jaipur on February 10-11
■ Developing a Cath Lab at Jaipur National University Hospital and Medical College by training the doctors and the team to make it 100 per cent radial.