Aiming to replicate the latest interventional heart technologies, the Cardiology Society of India on Wednesday urged patients with blockages of coronary arteries to undergo Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) as these help in better assessment for stent placement.

The new technique FFR measures the blood flow volume in the blocked artery and provides an assessment of the severity of a coronary artery lesion, while OCT provides a high quality image of the inside of coronary arteries to determine the anatomical characteristics of the vessel."FFR and OCT are innovative tools that enable doctors for accurate diagnosis and deciding the right treatment strategy for the patient."The integration of these technologies are also immensely beneficial for the patients as they primarily help in scientifically assessing and perfecting the treatment decision for the patient, resulting in long term clinical benefits," said M.S. Hiremath, President, Cardiology Society of India, in a statement.

He said that the two techniques can contribute to more transparency in decision making and deciding whether stent placement is necessary and if stent is implanted optimally or not."FFR helps the cardiologist with a readily available technique for evaluating the seriousness of the blockage and take accurate decisions. This has a positive effect on patient outcomes and quality of life post treatment while OCT has high resolution and speed, giving clear views of the vessel blockage which can help in deciding upon the course of treatment," he said.According to national health statistics, of the 30 million heart patients in India, 14 million reside in urban areas and 16 million in rural areas. Cardiac hospitals in India perform over 2,00,000 open heart surgeries per year -- one of the highest, worldwide.

Doctors have sought a upgradation of quality of treatment in India, as globally, technology is changing. The next-generation technologies are helping physicians in making accurate treatment decisions."The advantages of the two techniques is that these guarantee correct blockages are identified and treated, which further helps in improved stent placement leading to better patient outcomes," said Praveen Chandra, Chairman of Interventional Cardiology, Medanta - The Medicity, Gurugram.