PAEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY services launched at SPS Apollo Hospitals

Ludhiana, March 7, 2013: In a major boost to the medical facilities in the region, SPS Apollo Hospitals today launched a dedicated Paediatric Cardiology Department to offer specialised heart care services for children.

With the launch of Paediatric Cardiology, SPS Apollo Hospitals has become one of the few hospitals in the region to offer this specialised service.

The announcement for the launch was made by Dr. GL Avasthi, Director, Medical Services, SPS Apollo Hospitals at a press conference here today.

He revealed that Dr. Anurakti Srivastava, Consultant, Department of Paediatric Cardiology shall be heading the paediatric cardiology services at SPS Apollo Hospitals.

He said, “As one of the first hospital to offer the services of a qualified paediatric cardiologist, SPS Apollo Hospitals continues to deliver on its promise to offer super specialized and advanced paediatric care services to the people of Punjab”.

He added that Dr.Aurakti is amongst the very few qualified paediatric cardiologists in India and one of the first in the part of the country. She has been treating heart diseases in children for many years and was previously associated with Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Anurakti said, “heart diseases in children can be present since birth (congenital) or could develop later in childhood (acquired). According to estimated statistics every 100th baby born in the world has a congenital heart disease of which one- third have critical heart disease and one- fifth die during infancy”. She added that the lack of proper diagnostic services during foetal life or after birth leads to under-detection and underreporting. Moreover, the centres offering appropriate treatment facilities are scarce and tend to be concentrated in metropolitan cities which are out of reach for people of many states, including Punjab. Congenital heart diseases form a major chunk of undetected and untreated cause of neonatal and infant mortality in India.

The paediatric cardiac services will include Paediatric and Foetal Echocardiography, Electrocardiography, Holter Monitoring, Cardiac Catheterization and Angiography, Device Closure for Holes, Ballooning and/ or Stenting for Obstructions, Open Heart Surgery for Repair or Palliation of Heart Disease including Complex Diseases and Valve Surgeries.Dr.Anurakti would be performing a wide array of Paediatric Cardiac Interventions like Balloon Atrial Septostomy; Device closure of ASD, VSD, PDA; Balloon dilatation of stenotic pulmonary and aortic valves; Coarctation angioplasty; Coil embolization; PDA stenting and many more complex procedures. The institution of Paediatric Cardiac Services encompassing detection of heart diseases in foetuses, neonates, infants and children as well as treatment in form of non- surgical intervention or open heart surgery is the first step taken by SPS Apollo Hospital to decrease the morbidity and mortality related to heart diseases in children.

A present on the occasion were Dr. Vaneet Kaur, Head of Gynaecology, Dr. Ashwani Singhal, Senior Consultant, Neonatologist, Dr. Pradeep Sharma, Consultant, Neonatologist and Dr. VikasBansal, Consultant, Paediatrics and Paediatric Intensive Care. A multifaceted team is required for effective paediatric cardiology services and this dedicated team of specialists in the fields of paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery, cardiac anaesthesia, neonatology, paediatric intensive care and gynaecology is a key attribute of the state-of-the-art multi-speciality care at SPS Apollo Hospital.

SPS Apollo Hospitals will be taking a series of initiatives aimed at improving the face of congenital and acquired paediatric heart disease in Punjab alongwith spreading public awareness.