Date:04/04/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/04/stories/2006040415790500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

New scanner installed at Jayadeva hospital

Staff Reporter

It will identify accurately blockages in the coronary artery

BANGALORE: A scanner using radioisotopes that will identify blockages in the coronary artery in a non-invasive manner with a high degree of precision was inaugurated at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology here on Monday by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

The Rs. 1.4-crore myocardial perfusion scanner, which is part of the hospital's new nuclear cardiology wing, will help doctors predict with a high degree of accuracy the presence of blocks compared with the tread mill echocardiogram.

C.N. Manjunath, director of the hospital, said it would also help doctors decided better whether the patient would require a bypass surgery or an angioplasty. The hospital received over 500 patients every day and performed at least 50 coronary angiograms every day. Annually, 8,000 coronary angiograms and 1,000 open-heart surgeries were performed at the hospital, he said.

The scanner, which costs around Rs. 5,000, would be offered for Rs. 1,900 to poor patients, Dr. Manjunath added.