Bhubaneswar: Despite drastic progress made in interventional medical technologies to treat cardiac ailments, the facility of heart transplantation for complex cardio vascular diseases is still a distant dream for the people of Odisha.
Most of the government hospitals and the premier private hospitals in the state are yet to take steps for introducing heart transplant facility at their establishments. With the non-availability of such facilities in the state, people suffering from heart diseases like congenital heart defects, cardiomyopathy and other cardiac ailments are compelled to depend upon the medical facilities outside the state.
“This facility is currently not available in the state. This is one of the complex treatments available in some other states. Currently, people with major heart problems who need such transplant travel to Vishakhapatnam and Hyderabad for such facilities,” Dr Giridhari Jena, a cardiologist from the city said.
He, however, said that some premier hospitals from the state capital are now trying hard to bring in the advanced medical technology to their facilities to prevent the flow of cardiac patients outside the state.
“Some healthcare institutions are trying to bring in such facilities to the state. It is most likely that this facility would be available in some of the private hospitals soon. The whole procedure will need approval from the state government with other formalities,” he added.
According to the health experts the facility of heart transplant proves life saving for patients having birth defects like hole in the heart and other major cardiac issues. However, the cost of such treatments is very high in select health institutions. It is anticipated that the cost runs in lakhs for getting a healthy heart through transplant services. On the other hand the procedure also needs compatible donors for the service. Lack of willing donors and their families and compatibility issues are still said to be hampering even this sector of cardiac care.
Not only there is dearth of heart transplant services in the state but doctors who specialise in heart transplant services and dealing with such cases are also scarce in the city. According to some of the cardiologists from the state, there is very less number of cardiologists in the city who specialise in such treatments.