EKH records highest number of cardiac cases: Report

SHILLONG: East Khasi Hills has recorded maximum number of cardiac and cardiovascular emergency cases since 2009 with 53 per cent of the cases reported in the urban pockets.
According to the data released by Meghalaya GVK EMRI on the eve of World Heart Day, the emergency service has catered to 4,235 cases since its inception in 2009 till August 2018 with a mean of 424 cases per year.
Of these, 65 per cent of the cases were from East Khasi Hills followed by West Khasi Hills at 10 per cent. The Garo Hills districts, East JAintia Hills and South West Khasi Hills together contribute only 6 per cent of the total cases.
The data also showed 53 per cent of all the cases are coming from the urban population and 45 per cent from rural areas; 2 per cent of the cases were not specified. Further, 42 per cent of all the cardiac emergencies were male population and 38 per cent female.
The age group of 51 to 60 and 0 to 10 accounted for the highest number of cases with 14 per cent each, followed by the age group of 41 to 50 at 13 per cent; 8 per cent of the data had no documentation of age.
About 40 percent of the patients where follow-up was possible were found to have survived at 48 hours; 5 percent of the patients expired within 48 hours of the emergency. However, about 54 percent of patients could not be followed up due to various reasons.
The use of AED, cardiac arrest, chest pain, hypertension emergencies are the commonly listed heart related interventions and emergencies at GVK EMRI. Their advanced EMTs possess competencies to interpret ECG changes in most of the heart related emergencies.