After neglecting symptoms during COVID second wave, heart patients now returning to hospitals

Patients withdrew from hospitals and diagnostic services during the pandemic ignoring symptoms of fatigue, burning pain in the chest, upper abdomen pain etc, dismissing it as muscular pain or acidity
Heart patients are knocking on the doors of hospitals with escalated conditions (Representational Image)
Heart patients are knocking on the doors of hospitals with escalated conditions (Representational Image)

It is no myth that non-COVID health services were affected by the multiple lockdowns, pandemic restrictions and fear. The outcome is now evident in the aftermath of the past two waves, with heart patients knocking on the doors of hospitals with escalated conditions.

At Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, ICU admissions have increased by 10-15 percent recently.

"During the lockdowns, people could not travel due to restrictions for procedures such as heart surgeries, angioplasties, bypass surgery, valve replacement, open-heart surgeries. All these patients are coming in now, also because several other public hospitals have turned COVID-19 only," said Dr CN Manjunath, director of Jayadeva Hospital.

Patients withdrew from hospitals and diagnostic services during the pandemic ignoring symptoms of fatigue, burning pain in the chest, upper abdomen pain, etc, often dismissing it as muscular pain or acidity. Pre-COVID, they would have visited hospitals when faced with such symptoms, said Abhijit Vilas Kulkarni, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals.

"We have observed an increase in heart patients in the last two months, as these people missed their regular follow-ups and medical care. These include cases of heart failure, heart attack, blockages, including symptoms of breathlessness, difficulty walking, those who require angioplasties, bypass surgeries, stent placements, etc. As the disease progresses, so does the need for advanced therapy," Dr Kulkarni added.

There has been a significant increase in cardiovascular events like heart attacks owing to factors such as lack of physical activity during the lockdown and poor access to healthcare as most facilities have been oriented towards COVID-19 cases, said Dr Sanjay Bhat, Senior Consultant, Interventional Cardiology, Aster CMI Hospital.

"Moreover, COVID itself predisposes to increased vascular events like heart attack, stroke, and pulmonary embolism because the virus causes inflammation of the blood vessels and clotting," Dr Bhat pointed out.

Ahead of the possible third COVID-19 wave, equal importance needs to be given to non-COVID services, advised Dr Manjunath. He said that all big hospitals must reserve beds at least for emergencies related to cardiac, renal, respiratory and neurological issues. Presently, medical colleges are, unfortunately, referring medically manageable cases to super-specialty hospitals like Jayadeva instead of attending to them, he added.

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