The pandemic that wreaked havoc globally in 2020 will forever remain a horrific memory for anyone who was old enough to realise the scale of it. But in addition to the memory, there was also so much, particularly in terms of medical information, that the general population became aware of. One such is Cardiopulmonary critical care. As the name suggests, it is necessary for certain conditions affecting the heart or the lungs. But what exactly is it?
To get you the answer to this, we spoke with Dr Arpan Chakraborty, Consultant Critical Care and ECMO Physician, Apollo Multispeciality Hospital. To begin with, critical care refers to the care that is provided to critically ill patients when they are brought into the hospital. This usually consists of providing organ support while other treatment is also started, in addition to constant monitoring of the patient’s vitals. In case of Cardiopulmonary critical care, patients usually present with acute (serious sudden onset) or chronic (long term) heart conditions or respiratory conditions.
Depending on how advanced the condition is and the cause for the same, patients are usually put on life support systems like ventilators or ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines. They could also be given organ support in preparation for a transplant, while they wait for the organ to become available.
Dr Chakraborty tells us that in India, as many as 1% of all heart patients come in with a chronic condition. The figure increases to 4-5% of the Indian population when we consider long term respiratory conditions like COPD or Asthma. Such patients with chronic conditions are actually at a higher risk of developing serious distress and requiring critical care.
Listen to Dr Chakraborty speak about these conditions and how they are supported across Apollo Multispeciality Hospital Cardiopulmonary Critical Care units. After all, when it comes to trusting someone with one’s precious life – Apollo Hospitals really has no match.
This article has been produced on behalf of Apollo Multispeciality Hospital by ABP Digital Brand Studio.
