Kathmandu, May 4

In four per cent of acute myocardial infarction cases, commonly known as heart attack, the coronary arteries were found to have no obstruction, says a report.

A study conducted by Medanta Hospital, India, showed that four per cent of heart attack patients did not have any blockages in their arteries. The hospital had conducted the study from 2016 to 2018 among 1,025 heart attack patients. Of them, five per cent were Nepali nationals.

During an interaction organised here today, Dr Rajneesh Kapoor, a cardiologist at the hospital, said such condition was known as myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries, which was mostly seen in women and young patients.

Dr Kapoor said that most of the time no blockages were revealed in angiography tests and the patients were sent back home without any treatment, which later led to heart attacks.

He said, “Advanced interventional cardiology enables us to identify patients’ underlying problems and helps us provide disease-specific therapies to the patients to prevent recurrence.”

He further said that 98 per cent heart patients from Nepal were found to be heavy tobacco users. The report estimates that prevalence of tobacco consumption will be 25 per cent by 2025 and up to 40 per cent by 2050.

“This will put hundreds of thousands of Nepali people at risk of heart attacks in the next few years,” said Dr Kapoor.

Other risk factors noted for triggering heart diseases in Nepal are excessive alcohol consumption, hypertension, stress, physical inactivity, unhealthy food habits, belly fat and diabetes, according to Dr Kapoor.