VELLORE: The Government Medical College Hospital has launched Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP)therapy that improves the function of the heart and was inaugurated by the health minister Dr Vijayabaskar.
According to Resident Medical Officer Dr Arunan, the facility has been made available for the benefit of poor patients under the public-private partnership model. Chennai-based Vaso Meditech installed the EECP machine and the medical treatment provided to patients will be covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Medical Insurance Scheme with ten per cent of the revenue from the treatment to be given to the cardiology department of the hospital for its development.
Dr K Thirumal Babu, head of the Department of Cardiology said EECP therapy is an outpatient treatment for patients suffering from chest pain and poor heart function. The treatment involves the patient lying on a comfortable table with large cuffs wrapped around the patient’s legs. These cuffs inflate and deflate at specific times between a patient’s heart beat. A continuous electrocardiogram is used to set the timing so the cuffs inflate while the heart is at rest when it normally gets its supply of blood and oxygen. The cuffs deflate at the end of the rest period just before the next heartbeat. The special sensor applied to the fingers checks the oxygen levels in the blood. This inflation and deflation will stimulate the blood to find alternate pathways for blood flow and increases cardiac output.
“This is the only non-invasive, no-drug treatment found to be effective for patients suffering from heart-failure, chest-pain, shortness of breath, tiredness, those who have undergone angioplasty, those afraid of bypass surgeries or at risk for surgeries,” he said.