BENGALURU: STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction), a heart attack management programme launched in Karnataka to reduce the rising incidence of heart attack cases among all age groups, has screened 50,000 people since its inception in April 2023.
STEMI is a mass healthcare program being implemented in five states -- Maharashtra, Goa, Odisha, Telangana and Karnataka. Shikhar Srivastava, STEMI in charge of the implementation team, told TNIE that they managed to scan 50,000 people in four months in Karnataka. The project helped in the timely screening and management of more than 1,684 critical cases.
Dr CN Manjunath, director, of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular and Research Sciences, said there has been a 22 per cent rise in heart attack cases among young and middle-aged groups in the past 10-15 years. The divide between rural and urban areas has also narrowed over the years, due to poor lifestyle changes, alcohol consumption, smoking, unhealthy diet, stress and lack of exercise.
The programme has helped cater to people, especially in rural areas where there are no experts to perform angioplasty or handle heart attack cases. Delay in treatment increases the risk of death by 7 per cent, Dr Manjunath explained. The project, operating on a hub-and-spoke model, was launched in 15 districts across Karnataka and is expected to be expanded in the next two months. In all, 45 health facilities that include taluk, district and general hospitals are upgraded as spokes for STEMI detection and thrombolysis, and are linked to Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research - Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Kalaburagi, equipped with cath lab facilities.
The focus is on immediate detection and intervention through pharmacoinvasive therapy. Dr Manjunath added that by thrombolysis patients within the 12-hour window, 24 hours can be gained for an angiogram/ angioplasty procedure in semi-urban and rural areas, where angioplasty is not readily available.