The woman (58), a diabetic patient with a history of chest pain, underwent a successful procedure of precision angioplasty with advanced Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) imaging technique at a Delhi hospital. This came after a complex arterial blockage had caused a massive heart attack which could have been life threatening.

She is the first Indian patient to successfully undergo a stenting procedure using OCT imaging with Ilumen 4 trial. While coronary angioplasty remains the first line of treatment for such massive heart attacks, in synchronisation with the OCT technique, the precision of stenting has also improved the outcomes with a better quality of life in her case. "The latest advancements are also helpful in determining the functional significance in some tricky situations which otherwise would be seemingly borderline lesions. Making use of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) techniques not only helps in treating the patients effectively, but also improves their quality of life," said Balbir Singh, Chairman, Cardiac Sciences, Max Hospital, Saket.

He added, "With the technical expertise available to us for such complex procedures, we have a success rate of over 95 percent. This Ilumen 4 is an important and landmark study that will bring paradigm changes in the way stenting is performed in future. With lot of in-depth understanding, it could lead to much better outcomes in patients undergoing coronary stenting."

Modern advances made in the field of cardiology have assisted well in decision making and better treatment outcomes for patients with heart blockages and even end-stage heart diseases. "Angioplasty for treatment of heart attacks saves lives by rapidly stopping a coronary blockage and re-establishing bloodstream to the heart. Patients undergoing angioplasty using OCT have a quicker recovery time and can get back to normal life within 2 days of the procedure. Apart from being the best treatment option for angioplasty also treats patients with serious coronary illness including acute heart attacks," added Singh.