Anantnag: Four years after the Mirza Muhammad Afzal Beg Memorial (MMABM) Hospital in Anantnag was upgraded to Government Medical College (GMC), the pacemaker implantation was conducted for the first time.
The dual chamber implantation procedure on two patients aged 62 and 60 was performed by the Department of Medicine and is the first of its kind in south Kashmir.
The patients here have to otherwise go to SMHS, SKIMS, or other private hospitals in Srinagar for such surgeries.
“The duo had comorbidities of diabetes and hypertension with serious conduction defects and recurrent loss of consciousness,” an official in GMC Anantnag said. He said that the surgeries were conducted in the ortho theatre under C-arm and lasted for 3 hours.
“The cardiology team from the Department of Medicine was led by senior consultants Dr Shameem Iqbal and Dr Showkat Hussain Shah, Registrar, Dr Bilal Ganie with full support from Anesthesia Department and theatre technical and nursing staff,” an official said.
He said that the patients were doing well after the procedures and were being discharged.
Principal GMC, Anantnag, Prof Syed Tariq Qureshi congratulated the team of doctors.
“The facility will significantly benefit the people of south Kashmir, particularly senior citizens who otherwise had to travel to Srinagar or outside the state for pacemaker implants,” he said.
An official said that the entire procedures were done free of cost under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Medical Superintendent, GMC Anantnag, Dr Aabid Hussain Malik also congratulated the team.
“The management will always provide full logistics and support so that such procedures become routine in the hospital,” he said.
Head of the Department (HOD) Medicine, Dr Ghulam Jeelani Romshoo said that this new invasive cardiac facility was a landmark milestone and would be a boon to the healthcare facility in south Kashmir.
“Our department is already performing noninvasive cardiac diagnostic procedures like Echocardiography and TMT routinely. Now we are determined to perform such advanced procedures on a routine basis with the advent of the ‘Cath Lab facility’, which is under procurement process,” Romshoo said.
The hospital was upgraded from district hospital to GMC in the year 2018-2019, however, people and the medics had been demanding upgrading the infrastructure.