|
Wockhardt
surgeons use new method to remove
artery for bypass
India’s first
bypass surgery using endoscopic radial artery harvesting was
performed by cardiothoracic surgeons at Wockhardt Heart Hospital at
Mulund, Mumbai. This surgery is a new revolutionary technology for
removing an artery form the forearm through a ‘wrist-watch
incision’ for greater patient comfort. This is also the first time
such an operation was performed outside the US.
The existing method
of removing radial artery involves making a 24-cm cut in the forearm
that leaves a life long scar. However the new technology now
involves making a small 3-cm incision near the wrist to extract the
artery with minimal loss of blood.
"This method is
very patient friendly," said Dr. Tushar Desai, general manager
at Wockhardt Heart Hospital. "It is a lot less painful, causes
less discomfort, and the patient can use his hand almost
immediately, compared to seven days of discomfort when the artery is
removed in the conventional way." There is negligible loss of
blood and much smaller scar. This is an important factor these days
when many of the bypass patients are under 45. Leading doctors in
the city watched the operation live via a satellite uplink.
A majority of heart
surgeons worldwide prefer to use the artery form the forearm for
bypass grafting. Arterial bypass grafts last 15 to 20 years unlike
veins taken from the leg, which last only 10 to 15 years.
[Ref: Pharmabiz,
Sept. 24, 2002]
Back
| Back To Top
|
|
Cadila in talks
with foreign companies to make
auto-disposable syringes
Cadila Pharmaceuticals
Ltd (CPL) is in talks with three Far East pharma companies for a
tie-up to manufacture auto disable syringes, which are fast replacing
the traditional syringes for their greater safety advantage.
Casil Health Products
(CHPL), a subsidiary of CPL, is negotiating with one firm each in
South Korea, Japan and Indonesia. CHPL is planning to invest around Rs
25 crore in the proposed facility with the foreign partner chipping in
its part. In fact, a team of one prospective partner from south Korea
is currently visiting CHPL to hold talks.
"Yes, we are
looking for a tie-up for setting up a state-of-the-art facility to
manufacture auto-disable syringes," B Ramanna, president, CHPL,
told ET. However he declined to name the prospective partners on the
ground that the company was yet to strike a pact with any of them.
Besides the technical
know how, the company also expects the potential partner to make a
commitment for buy-back. However, CHPL is also open to set up a join
venture with the would-be partners. "We are no interested in just
technology transfer," Mr. Ramanna said.
To begin with, the
company is planning to keep its capacity at 1 million syringes a
month. According to Mr. Ramanna, the company is expecting to finalise
the tie-up before December ’02 and make the plant operational by mid
– 2003.
The company is also
keen to firm up its presence in other areas of diagnostics and
hospital products.
In latex gloves, the
company has turned its attention to the domestic market and signed a
contract to supply gloves to the armed forces. According to Mr.
Ramanna, the company also considering raising its production capacity
to cope with demand.
[Ref: The Economic
Times, Nov. 2, 2002]
Back
| Back To Top
|
|
US
firm launches ‘Patel catheter’
Patel’s curve, an
indigenously-designed catheter to facilitate angiographies and
angioplasties through the radial artery route designed by
Ahmedabad-based cardiologist Dr. Tejas Patel, was launched across the
world by a US-based firm recently.
Till date, the
conventional catheter used to do angiography and angioplasty through
the leg route was used for doing cardiac procedures through the radial
artery as well, which required lot of technical maneuvering. This
especially posed problems in Indian and other Asian patients whose
anatomical characteristics like average height and diameter of the
radial artery are markedly different from their counterparts in the
European country.
Patel’s curve has
been indigenously designed keeping in mind the anatomical difference
of the Asians. Four different curves have been designed namely Patel
Left 1 Round (PL1R), Patel Left 2 Round (PL2R), Patel Left 1 Flat
(PL1F) and Patel Left 2 Flat (PL2F).
"Radial artery is
the best route for cardiac patients for angiography and angioplasty as
it significantly reduces the recovery time and thus hospital stay for
the patient", says Patel. Patel said that all the four curves
designed by him have been put to use in the radial procedures and
efforts are on to introduce modifications to make the curve more
patient-friendly.
[Ref: The Times of
India, Sept. 25, 2002]
Back
| Back To Top
|
|
Healthcare
to contribute 8.5% to GDP by 2012: CII-Mckinsey study
Th total healthcare
market in India is expected to grow significantly and its contribution
to the country’s GDP will increase from 5.2% at present to 8.5% over
the next ten years. The expenditure on healthcare will more than
double the year 2012 and the healthcare spending is expected to
increase from Rs 86,000 crore at present to Rs 2,00,000 crore in the
next decade, reveals a CII-Mckinsey study on healthcare. According to
the study, private healthcare will continue to be the largest
component of healthcare spending and is expected to double from 60,000
crore to Rs 156, 000 crore by 2012. Moreover, if health insurance
cover becomes operative, the private spending will further go by an
additional Rs 39,000 crore.
With the rise in
lifestyle diseases such as cancer and cardiovascukar, the spending
pattern will change dramatically by 2012 with inpatient spending
accounting for 47% of the private health care spending, up from the
39% at present, the CII-Mckinsey study has pointed out.
It also explains the
current situation in the healthcare sector in India and has pointed
out the poor performance of the sector in terms of coverage,
purchasing and delivery in comparison to other developing countries
such as Brazil, Thailand and Korea. Citing an example the study has
pointed out that India has only 1.5 beds per thousand people in
contrast to the average of 4.3 beds per thousand in other countries.
[Ref: Pharmabiz, Nov.
7, 2002]
Back
| Back To Top
|
|
|
