CHI gearing to improve operation with cutting edge service

Jul 20, 2013 News

In the quest to improve the delivery of cardiac care, the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), strategically situated in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), is on an ambitious move to introduce a cutting edge facility.
And according to Medical Director and Consultant Cardiologist, Dr. Mahendra Carpen, “This is a very exciting time for us.”
He explained that the Institute, which first opened its doors in 2007 under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gary Stephens, has already invested in a brand new Cardiac

CHI’s Dr. Mahendra Carpen interacts with a patient

Catherisation Laboratory.
With this facility in place Dr. Carpen said, “We can do all top-of-the-line procedures including open-heart surgery and what we are trying to do is to outfit that as well with the capabilities of doing electro-physiology.”
As a qualified Interventional Cardiologist and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiologist, Dr. Carpen is highly skilled to manage cardiac patients with severe heart rhythm disorders for which electrophysiology is a recommended remedy.
“I would be happy to put to use my skills if and when we do establish that, and hopefully that will be something coming on stream by October or November. We will be only the second centre in the Caribbean that can offer such care,” he confidently disclosed. The other institution to boast such services in the Region is found in South Trinidad, according to the Consultant Cardiologist who also offers his expertise to the GPHC.
“That is something that is very exciting for us in the future…to be expanding our services to not just include what is available now but to bring something almost novel to the Caribbean,” added Dr. Carpen.
Already, CHI is offering its patients coronary angiography which is deemed the gold standard for evaluating coronary artery disease. This procedure is one that uses x-ray imaging to see a patient’s heart blood vessels and is therefore part of a general group of procedures known as cardiac catheterisation.
And not only can cardiac catherisation diagnose heart and blood vessel conditions but it can also treat them through a method which is regarded as the most common type of heart catheter procedure.
“We do that several times a week every week. This week alone we did seven cases…we have done almost 100 for this year,” informed Dr. Carpen yesterday.
The procedure, he said, can be done on either the young or old, adding that there are several factors that can influence its use among them whether the patient is a diabetic or not.
According to Dr. Carpen, many researches done over the year have shown that diabetic patients who have certain kinds of blockages may do better with bypass surgery.
“If there are those kinds of findings when you do the angiograms you would want to advise patients to do bypass surgery rather than putting in a stent.”
Dr. Carpen pointed out that the CHI has over the years developed expertise in offering a range of services including regular clinic, screening, eco-cardiogram, electrocardiograms (ECG) and the implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators.
The Consultant Cardiologist, who took up the reins of the Cardiac Institution about eight months ago, is trained to implant and manage patients with pacemakers and defibrillators. He is also skilled in Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy which is intended for patients with severe heart failure.
And according to Dr. Carpen, “This is a life-saving and quality of life improving kind of treatment,” which is readily offered to patients at the ever-evolving heart institute.