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Apollo News (1072)
New Initiatives
Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals launched the first of its kind comprehensive Voice Clinic in Eastern India!
Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, the No.1 hospital in Kolkata , launched a unique Voice Clinic on 30th April 2013. This all inclusive service, a pioneer of sorts in Eastern India offers a 360 degree solution for treating all kinds of voice disorders. The Voice Clinic was launched by Dr Rupali Basu, Chief Executive Officer- Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata and Chief Executive Officer – Eastern Region, Apollo Hospitals along with Dr Shantanu Panja, Chief Consultant, ENT/Head & Neck Surgery, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals.
The Voice Clinic is a wholesome amalgamation of superior quality services such as diagnosis, consultation, surgery and rehabilitation. It is combined with the experience and expertise of well-renowned Voice and Laser surgeons. The department also has a full-fledged Speech and Rehabilitation team and nursing staff all under a single roof. The Speech and Rehabilitation team comprises seasoned voice and speech therapists and also offers voice analysis therapy.
In keeping with their commitment of providing quality healthcare to the patients, Apollo Gleneagles Voice Clinic is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment such as Fibre Optic Laryngoscope, Video Stroboscope and Voice Analysis software (PRAAT). Apart from the basic voice disorder, the clinic also offers other advanced treatment namely, Laser surgery, Phono micro surgery, Thyroplasty and Injection Laryngoplasty.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rupali Basu, Chief Executive Officer – Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals and Eastern Region, Apollo Hospitals said, “”Voice disorder is a condition that can affect people across all age groups from different walks of life. The treatment for this has to be a combination of therapy and surgery. The Apollo Gleneagles Voice Clinic is aimed at curing such disorders by offering a bouquet of superior services under a single roof. At Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, it has always been our aim to provide treatment for disorders which are not widely known to the common people and their subsequent treatment. The introduction of the Voice Clinic is also a step towards the same””.
Dr Shantanu Panja, Chief Consultant, ENT/Head & Neck Surgery, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals further added, “”Voice disorder is a very common phenomenon these days and the awareness about the same is very low. Since the occurrence of this disease hampers one’s voice, it also affects the communication skills of a person and acts as a blow to one’s confidence. Patients suffering from voice disorders go through tremendous physical and mental ordeal. The Apollo Gleneagles Voice Clinic will act as a complete destination providing solutions for any kind of voice disorder. The treatment of voice disorder is a delicate art and requires distinctive equipment and technology. We have designed our voice clinic based on these parameters to ensure world class treatment for our patients””.
Clinical Excellence
Woman on ventilator delivers baby at Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals, Delhi!
A 31-year-old woman suffering from swine flu delivered a baby boy despite being on ventilator at Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals, Delhi, which doctors term as near miracle. Manjit Rani, a resident of Gurgaon, was eight months pregnant when she contracted swine flu.
Doctors at Indraprastha Apollo hospitals, where she was admitted last month with severe breathing problem, said Rani was unable to maintain her oxygenation even with oxygen support.
“”She was in severe respiratory distress and oxygen levels in her body were very low. We put her on non-invasive ventilator support immediately to support breathing but it did not help. Finally, we took a consensus decision after consulting the obstetrician to conduct an emergency cesarean,”” said Dr Avdhesh Bansal, senior consultant respiratory and critical care at Apollo hospital. Bansal said the surgery went off well. “”The mother continued to be critical. On the other hand, the baby was also in a critical state as his echo showed – severe heart disease (narrowing of aorta). It was like a raining of troubles,”” the doctor said.
A team cardiac surgeons conducted surgery on the pre-term baby weighing only 2.2 kilograms to remove the diseased part of aorta and join the normal ends together even as her mother battled for survival. “”It took them 18 days to recover and presently both mother and the baby are fine and discharged on few weeks ago,”” said another senior doctor.
Medical experts say women infected with swine flu viruses are five times more likely to lose their baby during pregnancy or just after giving birth due to defects.
Awards & Accolades
Apollo Gold Medal ceremony at NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur!
In an inspiring and emotional convocation ceremony, the NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur batch of 2007 – 2013 experienced a day that will be etched in their memories forever as they took their oath in front of faculty and family. The Apollo Gold Medal was awarded to Dr. Astha Bansal for her excellent performance.
New Initiatives
Apollo Hospitals launches its First Sugar Clinic for diabetes in Muscat!
Sugar Clinic Muscat is the first international Sugar Center of the Apollo Group outside India and is in collaboration with the International Medical Centre, Oman. His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq al Said officially inaugurated the Sugar Apollo Clinic for Diabetes at a special gathering that was also attended by Sangita Reddy, Executive Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, India.
Sugar Clinic Muscat offers a host of services which includes – full-time endocrinologist and diabetologist, diabetes foot clinic-equipped with latest screening capabilities, Diabetes Eye Clinic – manned by a full time Ophthalmologist and equipped with state-of-the-art non-mydriatic Fundus Camera, dietician and Physiotherapist. With an eye for education the Centre has a team of trained diabetes nurse educators who work closely with clinicians and individuals availing care at the Centre.
Speaking on the occasion HH Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq al Said, said “”Diabetes is a growing menace in the country and I wish to congratulate Apollo Hospitals and the International Medical Centre team for initiating a unique concept to tackle diabetes for the residents of Oman””.
Elucidating the concept of Sugar, Sangita Reddy, said “”Sugar is a unique offering which follows a structured care pathway and a multi-disciplinary team approach to work with the individuals affected with diabetes to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life.
The Sugar Centre at Oman is part of the Sugar clinic network – and will be looked after by the governing body consisting of experts associated with the group in the area of Endocrine and Diabetes, Hypertension, Nephrology, Podiatry, Ophthalmology, Diet and Physiotherapy. This will assist the Centre to stay updated and facilitate on-going learning along with sharing of best practices.
Further, patients availing care at the Centre will have an access to the super specialists from the Apollo Hospitals group for second opinion and through the clinics by visiting specialist from Apollo India in Muscat””, Sangita, added.
V T Saileshwaran, Managing Director Apollo Medical Centre Oman added that the Centre has been receiving overwhelming response from the society and we are committed to continue the good work and reduce the burden of diabetes in Oman and the region””.
To begin with, the diabetes services under the brand Sugar are being offered at the International Medical Centre facility located in Ruwi, Muscat. This will be progressively rolled out to other parts of Muscat and Oman so that they are accessible to as many individuals with diabetes in the region, as possible.
Apollo Hospitals Chennai the first corporate hospital in India, was launched by Dr Prathap C Reddy, the architect of Indian healthcare in 1983.
Over the years, Apollo Hospitals Group has grown to become one of Asia’s largest integrated healthcare organizations with over 8,500 beds across 53 hospitals, more than 1200 pharmacies and over 100 diagnostic clinics.
The Group also offers medical business process outsourcing services, health insurance services and clinical research divisions with a focus on epidemiological studies, stem cell research and genetic research.
To develop talent for the burgeoning need of superior healthcare delivery, Apollo Hospitals Group has 11 nursing and hospital management colleges.
These achievements have earned Apollo Hospitals Group several accolades, including the Centre of Excellence from the Government of India and recognition from the Joint Commission International (seven of our hospitals are JCI accredited). In a rare honour, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo’s contribution, the first for a healthcare organization.
Apollo Hospitals Chairman, Dr Prathap C Reddy, was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, in 2010.
International Medical Centre (IMC) is a comprehensive healthcare facility established in 2007 in Muscat for the purpose of providing quality laboratory and radiology diagnostic services to the residents of the capital city.
Clinical Excellence
Jeddah woman delivers a 5 month old Miracle in Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad!
This is a story of a woman who defied all odds and gave birth to a child. In a foreign country, five-month pregnant Shaheen Ahmad went desperately knocking on doors of different hospitals even as she was losing precious water from her womb. She was told that at 22 weeks, she had no chance to deliver a child that would live. She was advised abortion but no hospital was ready to admit her.
“”For three weeks, even as I constantly lost amniotic fluid, I desperately consulted doctors in five hospitals in Jeddah but no doctor would admit me. I found myself in the most horrifying situation as I was losing my child but no one was ready to offer me treatment, citing that they did not have space or facility to treat my 22-week-old child if he was born alive””, says Shaheen, holding her miracle baby Shafi meaning ‘cure’ close to her chest.
Shaheen says her desperate situation forced her Kutch-based parents to come look for a doctor in Ahmedabad who would be willing to take a high-risk pregnancy which was on the verge of termination. When Dr Sheru Zamindar of Apollo Hospital expressed readiness to take in Shaheen, she was faced with another dilemma – no airline would allow her to fly if she said she was pregnant and her water was leaking.
“”I felt as if I was denying my child’s existence even before I lost him when I declared ‘not pregnant’ to the airlines to board the flight to Ahmedabad””, says Shaheen. Allah, however, had other plans for Shaheen. Luckily, she got admitted in the hospital on January 1 and only then she started bleeding. “”Doctor told us that since bleeding had begun, the child would have to be delivered. He was delivered tiny at 680 grams but survived””, says her husband Shakeel, a maintenance engineer working in a mall in Jeddah. “”This was one of the few cases where the baby was given surfactant, a drug that prevents immature lungs of premature babies from collapsing, inside the delivery room. Initial few weeks were difficult but international protocols of nutrition were followed and the baby who was destined to live defied odds and is now a healthy 1.5 kg. He had to be kept in the neonatal ICU care for three months but now has been discharged””, says neonatal intensive care specialist Dr Ashish Mehta.
Clinical Excellence
Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore removes 8 kg tumor from the abdomen of an International patient
Apollo Hospital, Bangalore has successfully removed a large tumor from the abdomen of an international patient from Iraq. The patient Fawazi was detected with a tumor 18 years ago, which grew in size and weight over time.
The 65-year-old patient had earlier been operated in Iraq but the tumor recurred post the surgery. The tumor eventually grew in size and its sheer weight was becoming a hindrance. It was located in the posterior part of the abdomen, and due to size and weight it was compressing the ureter causing the kidneys to balloon out. The tumor had also grown around the blood vessels causing his legs to swell up like in filariasis.
The tumor removal surgery was not recommended by surgeons in Iraq and the patient eventually decided to travel to India for his treatment. The surgical team at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore was led by Dr Anil Kamath, senior consultant, Surgical Oncology along with Dr Pandu, surgical oncologist, Dr Raju, consultant urologist and Dr Sunder Narasimhan, vascular surgeon.
The operation lasted for about 16 hours and during the process almost 10 liters of blood was administered to the patient. Post the surgery, the patient was kept in the ICU for two days and his subsequent recovery was nothing short of magical. Within a few days his kidney functions returned to normal and swelling in the leg reduced to almost half of what it was originally and the patient was able to get up and walk without too much discomfort.
“The main challenge during the surgery was to get around the tumor which occupied the whole abdomen. A long abdominal incision had to be made. Surgery had to proceed cautiously as the normal anatomy was totally distorted. The ureter was stretched by the tumor and as their length had become thrice the normal, the ureters had to be cut and re-implanted elsewhere into the bladder. The next challenge was the blood vessels going into the right leg. As the tumor was encasing the blood vessels, both the artery and the vein had to be removed along with the tumor. This segment had to be replaced by the superficial veins from the other leg,” said Dr Kamath.
New Initiatives
Apollo Hospitals launches new campaign – ‘APOLLO PROTECT’
Aptly titled ‘APOLLO PROTECT’, the campaign will focus on encouraging vaccinations for the adolescent and adult population and it will be driven across the group’s integrated healthcare network of50 hospitals, 1500 pharmacies, 100 clinics, 4 Cradle Hospitals, Day Surgery Centers, Occupational Health Centers, Telemedicine centers and Patient Information Centers across the country.
Speaking about the innovative social initiative, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “India has witnessed substantial strides in creating basic awareness about the importance of vaccinations, yet a lot more needs to be done to ensure that its benefits reach the remotest parts of the country. I would estimate that at least 2, 50,000 precious lives can be saved through this structured drive on Vaccination Preventive Diseases (VPD) and help avoid both chronic and acute conditions like cervical cancer, pneumococcal, swine flu and cholera.”
Apollo Hospitals has been at the forefront of such interventions and has helped in preventing infection by inducing immunity through the use of vaccination. Commencing on the World Neighborhood Day, the campaign will witness a wider reach with valued support from neighborhood volunteers, corporate, various school and College Clubs, Rotary and RWAs to drive awareness among general public.
“Vaccination in India has primarily been administered to new born babies with parents’ taking ample precaution for their children with timely inoculation. However, a large share of adults and adolescent children are neglected leaving many susceptible to even life-threatening, yet easily preventable maladies. This initiative will help save lives, improve epidemiological surveillance and also offer a reasonably inexpensive and valuable protection against diseases”, says Ms Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group.
“Soon, dedicated vaccination bays will be set up across all Apollo Hospitals and Apollo Clinics and subsequently, vaccinations will become a part of regular Health Check-up Programs,” she added.
Technology
G scan – an Open Standing MRI scanner launched at Apollo Delhi!
Paving the way towards addressing the ever evolving and complex healthcare environment in India, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals has installed a first-of-its-kind cutting edge technology G (Gravity) Scan – an open standing MRI scanner.
This new open standing MRI Machine is a revolutionary platform for musculoskeletal applications including the spine, which provides surgeons a unique additional diagnostic element.
When lying down, the patient hardly puts weight on the lower limb because of which a conventional MRI scan cannot detect some vital problems and deviations. This technology enables true weight-bearing examination, which was not possible before and was one of the greatest challenges to MRI.
By allowing scanning in standing position, the technology also helps doctors diagnose functional alignments of patients’ joints and whether the condition will get worse. In addition, the machine is open and thus most friendly for patients who have claustrophobia (fear of small closed-in space).
One can have various tilting positions such as 45 degrees, 90 degrees etc on this machine – the standing MRI, which uses the principle of gravity in giving added advantage in diagnosing spinal diseases and musculoskeletal disorders of the patients including joints.
The open standing MRI Machine would be also be a critical diagnostic tool for patients who continue to experience pain after spine surgery because it can evaluate the role and effect of patients’ weight on the curvature of spine, which cannot be accurately analyzed with conventional MRI Machines. Such patients can now hope to get proper and accurate spine surgery done, as with this scan the surgeons would have an exact idea and better analysis of the extent and nature of injury, visualized along with the effect of gravitational forces.
Awards & Accolades
The Award for the “BEST MULTI-SPECIALITY HOSPITAL – METRO” presented to Apollo Hospitals, C...
“We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then is not an act, it becomes a habit!”” – Aristotle
These words of Aristotle very well define the work culture at Apollo Hospitals, where excellence is just not a word or an act, but it is a day to day practice.
Apollo Hospitals, Chennai has been conferred the award of “”BEST MULTI-SPECIALTY HOSPITAL – METRO”” at the very prestigious ICICI Lombard & CNBC TV18 India Healthcare Awards 2012.
This Award, now in its Third Year, has almost become the Gold Standard for the healthcare industry. A survey was conducted by IMRB, India’s leading market research agency, which has put in place a robust multi-phase methodology which helped short-list the India’s finest healthcare providers for the final round. Collectively the consumer ratings and doctors’ ratings on facility assessment data were shared with the jury to arrive at the Overall Best Hospital Award.
Events
1st International Apollo Cord Blood Symposium 2013!
True to Apollo’s, firm belief that enhancement of medical knowledge is one of the key mechanisms for continued excellence, and to keep abreast with the ever evolving changes in the field of stem cell usage, Apollo Speciality Hospital , Chennai organized the 1st International Symposium on Cord blood Transplantation covering the usage of cord in blood disorders.
Cord blood stem cells have been termed truly as Lord Dhanvantri’s magic potion for the cure of blood related disorders in the last two decades.
The symposium, the 1st of its kind in the country was aimed to:-
Raise awareness about the use of cord blood as a source of stem cells
Provide scientific knowledge and guidelines for physicians wishing to pursue the use of cord stem cells
Leukemia, Thalassaemia and inherited genetic disorders seen in childhood are a huge burden to our society. Deliberations on use of cord blood as a source of stem cells in these conditions were the highlights of this symposium.
The panel of Speakers, featuring some of the most eminent Onco-Hematologists, Transplant Physicians from India and abroad were quite eloquent in proposing their thoughts, the key International Faculty included:-
Dr. Elaine Gluckman – Professor Emeritus of the University Paris-Diderot & President of Eurocord, who is referred to as Mother of Cord Blood Transplant , appreciated the work done at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai here to improve our patients life by using new and life saving cell therapy from cord blood.
Dr. Vinod K. Prasad – Director, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Fellowship Program Dukes University, USA, impressed on us the cord blood usage practice in the U.S, and his clinical experience on its usage.
Dr.Tang-Her Jaing, Admitting Physician, Department of Hematology/Oncology, Chang Gung Children’s Hospital, Chang Gung University, Taiwan who is one of the world’s leading physician using cord blood to cure thalessemic conditions, was insightful as well.
The other Indian Panelists and Chair persons included the leading transplant physicians, Hematologists, pediatricians and medical oncologists shared their thought on leveraging the usage of Cord blood as an important Source for managing blood Disorders.
The program was very well attended by almost 130 Transplant physicians, Onco-Hematologists, Oncologists & Pediatricians etc.
“The need for a Public cord blood repository in our country” is the one important resource we need in our country and we hope all the participating physicians, would put their efforts to bring make this dream come true.
Technology
South Asia’s first PET-MR SUITE at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals !
Shaping the dimensions of the ever evolving and complex healthcare environment in India, Apollo Hospitals launched The PET SUITE in India. The PET SUITE was launched at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals by the Hon’ble Chief Minister, of Delhi Smt. Sheila Dikshit.
Paving the Way for the Next Generation of Clinical Multimodality Imaging Applications and designed to diagnostically address the complexities of human body, Apollo Hospitals has installed a PET CT and a PET MR, which is the first of its kind across South Asia, signifying a tremendous leap forward in imaging capabilities.
The PET MR System has resulted from the amalgamation of a state of the art whole body 3T MRI scanner and a high end PET system, which has been fully integrated and precisely aligned within the same gantry. This enables us to simultaneously acquire accurate information on morphology, function and metabolism. The significance of this facility gets augmented by the deft handling and interpretive reporting by leading experts in the field.
The PET-CT facility being equipped with state of the art 427 slice / sec CT scanner, Ultra HDPET with highly specialized 4D respiratory Gating software is a boon for cancer patients as the radiotherapists would be able to deliver highly precise radiation doses, synchronized with patients’ breathing patterns.
Addressing the media, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “As the First to bring the PET SUITE to South Asia, Apollo Hospitals continues to deliver on its promise to bring the most advanced technologies in patient care. It’s a tremendous leap forward in imaging capabilities. Our highly trained doctors will now use one of the world’s most advanced combination scanners which will give them highly defined, 3-D images, enabling them to make the best choices about treatments across specialties. And since the PET MR is a system that can simultaneously acquire data across the whole body, the scanning takes less time thereby reducing patient discomfort. As MR has no radiation, the PET MR significantly reduces overall radiation exposure, making it safer for children and patients undergoing repeated studies for therapy monitoring”.
The advantages of the PET MR system would be its superior quality images with better soft tissue contrast, leading to better localization and characterization of lesions. Other than its application in cancer, PET MR will play a greater role in understanding various disease processes in cardiology and neurology. Its ‘zero’ radiation exposure from the machine (unlike CT), making it safe for pediatric case evaluation and for women in the reproductive age group indicates that it can be used safely for disease follow up. PET MR will establish a new understanding of the previously unknown interrelation between different measures of pathology and physiology in human body. With the enhanced ability to explore correlations between structure and function, perfusion and metabolism, tissue diffusivity and cell proliferation; PET MR potentiates our ability of gaining new insights into the progress of disease, unlocking new paths to treatment or even opening new areas of research.
With approximately 3 million people suffering from cancer in India and one million new cases of cancer being detected every year, there is an urgent need for early detection and the right treatment to avoid recurrence. PET-MR helps precisely in that by providing important information for early detection and staging of cancer, which can be a decisive factor for treatment planning, therapy selection including target therapy and follow up.
Technology
New scanner at Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, which can detect cancer at Speed of Light!
Apollo hospital has set up a state-of-the-art body scanner which detects cancerous cells quickly, and may go a long way in timely selection of treatment for cancer patients, officials of the hospital said on Wednesday. The Positron Emission Tomography-Magnetic Resonance (PET-MR) has been combined with PET Computerised Tomography (CT) to create the PET Suite which scans patients quicker, thus reducing discomfort and helping in therapy selection and treatment.
Since doctors can simultaneously acquire data from the whole body, the scanning takes less time, thus, reducing the discomfort of the patient, Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group, told reporters in New Delhi. ‘As MR has no radiation, this machine can significantly reduce the overall radiation dose, making it safer for pediatrics and patients undergoing repeated studies for therapy monitoring,’ he added. Compared to hospitals abroad, ‘the cost is 75 percent less and diagnostic accuracy is 100 percent,’ said Uma Ravishankar, Head of the Department of Molecular Imaging and Nuclear Medicine.
Besides detecting cancer, PET-MR can also play a major role in understanding cardiology and neurological diseases, doctors said. The PET Suite will be formally launched on Feb 16 by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
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