‘People should undergo check-up one month after recovering from COVID-19’

Significant spurt in those with cardiac illnesses, says interventional cardiologist

It is better for all those who recovered from COVID-19 to undergo a thorough health check-up one month after their recovery, said R. Anantharaman, senior consultant interventional cardiologist, Kauvery Hospital, Chennai.

Addressing a webinar organised as part of The Hindu ’s Wellness Series on “Advancements in Cardiac Therapy: Implications During COVID-19” in association with Kauvery Hospital, he said correlations between severity and possibility of post-COVID-19 complications were hard to arrive at.

“We have seen cases where patients with very mild COVID-19 developed severe complications later. One particular patient developed blood clots in arteries in many places in the body even though he recovered from COVID-19 with very mild symptoms,” he said.

Therefore it was important for everyone recovering from COVID-19 to undergo a medical check-up.

M. Rajendran, consultant interventional cardiologist, Kauvery Hospital, Salem, said despite several challenges faced during initial days of COVID-19, hospitals had established thorough protocols to treat patients amidst the pandemic.

The public should not hesitate from visiting hospitals and accessing timely medical care due to fear of COVID-19.

He pointed out that even in tier-2 cities like Salem, there was a significant spurt in patients reporting with cardiac illnesses after the second wave of the pandemic.

Latest technology

The doctors said that several cutting edge technologies were now available for the patients, which enabled better treatment for cardiac illnesses with minimum hospitalisation.

Dr. Anantharaman highlighted in particular the laser coronary angioplasty treatment, which he said was available in southern India only at Kauvery Hospital at the moment.

Dr. Rajendran spoke about optical coherence tomography (OCT) diagnostic technology that facilitated the execution of angioplasties in a precise manner.

Both the doctors stressed on the importance of vaccination.

“Cardiac patients in particular should get vaccinated and not listen to unnecessary rumours that create fears about vaccination,” Dr. Anantharaman added.