Knowledge on how to perform timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and not giving up are crucial while reviving patients whose hearts have stopped beating, according to medical experts in the city. Chest compressions mimic the heart’s pumping action and help keep the blood flowing throughout the body.
Last month, a 68-year-old businessman’s heart stopped beating for nearly 10 minutes while undergoing treatment at Wockhardt Hospital in Mira Road. Timely and continuous cardiac massage by doctors helped revive his heart beat.
The patient, Dilip Shah, was admitted after a heart attack and an angiography revealed multiple blockages. While the doctors waited for Mr. Shah to stabilise, his heart stopped beating. “He had no pulse or regular heart rhythm. He regained the rhythm and blood pressure after 10 minutes of CPR,” said intensivist Dr. Bipin Jibhkate, who revived the patient along with cardiologist Dr. Chetan Bhambure. “The patient also needed a temporary pacemaker to stabilise his heart rhythm,” said Dr. Bhambure. Mr. Shah later underwent a bypass surgery, which was performed by cardiac surgeon Dr. Upendra Bhalerao, and was discharged on December 21.
In another case, a 65-year-old man’s heart stopped beating for nearly 45 minutes last week. Doctors at Breach Candy Hospital revived him after taking turns to give him CPR and 40 shocks using a defibrillator. Cardiologist Dr. Dev Pahlajani, who treated the patient, said he had undergone angioplasty after an heart attack and developed a cardiac arrest the next day.
Dr. Pahlajani said such cases are common and knowing how to perform chest compressions is important. He said, “With no heart beat, these patients are near dead. But the whole idea is to not give up. We kept checking the patient’s pupils, brain function, gag reflex [contraction of the back of the throat] and pinched him to look for spontaneous movements. We simultaneously continued the cardiac massage and shocks to revive his heart.” Dr. Pahlajani said the patient will be shifted out of the intensive care unit in a day or two.
