Cardiology

It gives immense pleasure to inform you that HELP has carved aniche for itself in rendering qualitative and cost effective medical services down through the years. HELP has come up with cardiology and Cardio-Thoracic Surgery units recently to offer a complete range of cardio logical services. The most reliable cardiac services are now available in HELP round the clock.

Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart. The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians specializing in this field of medicine are called cardiologists. Cardiologists should not be confused with cardiac surgeons, (cardiothoracic and cardiovascular), who are surgeons who perform cardiac surgery via sternotomy - open operative procedures on the heart and great vessels.

Electrocardiogram (ECG)
2D ECHO
Chest X-Ray (CXR)
Treadmill Test

ANGIOGRAM
Cardiac catheterization is a procedure where a small plastic catheter is placed within a large artery in your leg and advanced to your heart. This technique is used to take pictures of the arteries of the heart and the pump function of the left ventricle. The procedure provides the most detailed and accurate information on the anatomy of the coronary arteries. Cardiac catheterization is necessary before a decision can be made about bypass surgery or coronary angioplasty. On occasion, for instance, when the arteries to the legs are blocked, the procedure is carried out through an artery in the elbow crease or wrist.

Automatic Implantable Cardiovertor-Defibrillator (AICD)
Cardiac Catherization, Percutanous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), stenting (PTCS), drug eluting stent These procedures involve putting the patient in a cardiac catherization laboratory. The laboratory area is shield from leakage of radiation. The patient is usually awake or under a mild sedation. Local anaesthetic will be applied to the groins, elbow or the neck. The catheters will be inserted through sheaths into the arteries and veins of the body and then pass up to the heart. Pressures within the different area of the heart is measured and gradients across the valves calculated. Dyes will be injected into the coronary arteries (LAD- left anterior descending artery, LCX-left circumflex artery and the RCA-right coronary artery) and the left ventricle to look for degrees of narrowing, site of the lesion and the ejection fraction (EF) of the left ventricle. Sometimes, the right side of the heart is also entered to check the pressure and the oxygen content of the blood. This would be of great help in diagnosis and grading of the severity of congenital heart disease (e.g. Atrial septal Defect ASD, ventricular Septal Defect VSD, etc.)

Permanent Pacemaker Implantation
When patient has a very slow heart rate or if the patient has occasional pause in the normal heart beat rhythm with symptoms of syncope or loss of consciousness, a permanent pacemaker will be needed. The pacemaker is an electronic device containing a computer board with a CPU and a battery. It is usually implanted under local anaesthesia under the skin below the clavicle of the shoulder either on the left or the right side. One or two electrode leads will pass through the venous system into the right atrium and right ventricle of the heart. Very minute electrical discharge will be given by the device to "pace" or stimulate the heart to beat if anything goes wrong 24 hours a day! Newer device will be able to adjust the heart rate according to the patient's activity (rate adaptive pacemaker). The battery usually last for 7-9 years and after that, a replacement of the pacemaker will be needed.

CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE
CORONARY BALLOON ANGIOPLASTY
PTCA STENTING
PERMANENT PACEMAKER
TEMPORARY PACEMAKER IMPLANTION
ANGIOPLASTY

CARDIO THORASIS SURGERIES
By Dr. G.J.Narasimha Rao MS, MCH Cardio Thoracic Surgeon who is the eminent surgeon in the coastal area with 97% success ratio.
The most critical cardiac surgeries like Bypass, Double valve replacement, Mitral valve replacement and Congenital Heart Diseases are treated and performed only in metros, so far. Now the best hands from across the state will be performing the same surgeries with enhanced efficiency and accuracy in Vijayawada at HELP. The innovative cardiology unit is furnished with ultramodern technology.
• CABG
• INTRA CARDIAC TUMORS
• INTRA CARDIAC REPAIR OF ASD
• INTRA CARDIAC REPAIR OF VSD
• VALVE REPAIRS
• OPEN PULMONARY VALVOTOMY
• CLOSED MITRAL VALVOTOMY
• TOF
• SYSTEMIC PULMARY SHUNTS
• VALVE REPLACEMENTS
• MITRAL VALVE REPLACEMENT