Islamabad: Speedy completion of PIMS Cardiac Centre ordered

[Naveed Yaseen]

by Shahina Maqbool
Health Secretary Khushnood Lashari has issued directions for expeditious completion of the Cardiac Centre being constructed at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

It was back in March 2006 when former prime minister Shaukat Aziz laid the foundation stone of the Cardiac Centre; at that time, it was project to be completed by September 2007. Spread over an area of 75,000 square feet, the project will be completed at a cost of Rs1260.851 million, inclusive of the cost of infrastructure, equipment and staff salaries for a period of six months.

This first-ever cardiac centre in a public health facility within Islamabad will be a 117-bed facility with two operation theatres, two cath labs, and a separate blood bank. As many as 385 posts of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and other personnel related to security and housekeeping will be created through the opening of the centre. The building will also have an auditorium with a seating capacity for 150 persons, an internet cafe and a library.

The cardiac OPD at PIMS receives 300 patients every day; 70% of them suffering from ischemic heart disease which is commonly caused by high cholesterol level, obesity, hypertension and unhealthy lifestyle. The hospital’s existing Department of Cardiology performs 350 coronary angiographies and 220 temporary and permanent pacemaker implantations every year. In addition, 850 nuclear scans, 50,000 ECGs, 200 Holter and ABM tests, 10,000 echoes, 200 transoesaphagel echoes and 1054 exercise tolerance tests per year are also performed. Other than that, 35,000 cardiac OPD visits, 2,000 CCU admissions and 3,600 admissions per year in the cardiology ward are recorded at PIMS.

In contrast, 1,600 cardiac surgical procedures are performed at AFIC on a yearly basis; 80 per cent of these are open-heart surgeries. Recent data on other procedures performed on a yearly basis points to 32,000 transthoracic and 600 tranoesophageal echoes, 1,000 exercise tolerance tests, 450 myocardial perfusion scans, 6,000 diagnostics coronary angiographies and 500 cardiac catheterisations, 1,000 coronary angioplasty and stenting, 350 temporary and 250 permanent pacemakers implantations, 250 diagnostics and therapeutic cardiac electro physiology procedures.

At present, the entire burden of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and adjoining areas is being handled by AFIC. Established in 1987, AFIC is an extremely busy 270-bedded facility equipped with a 19-bedded Coronary Care Unit, 19-bedded surgical ITC, departments of cardiac electrophysiology, echocardiography, exercise tolerance testing, nuclear cardiology, three fully equipped catheter labs capable of complex coronary and cardiac interventions and four cardiac theatres capable of all kinds of adult and paediatric cardiac surgery.

For academic purposes, AFIC is affiliated with Quaid-i-Azam University. All programmes for postgraduate training in cardiology conducted by this Institute are recognised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan.

The Institute also provides cardiology training to under-graduate students of the Army Medical College and postgraduate students of Armed Forces Postgraduate Medical Institute, Rawalpindi.

The establishment of the Cardiac Centre at PIMS is expected to take away some of the existing load off AFIC, where not everyone can be instantly catered because of a long waiting list.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=177703