Cardiac emergencies rise by 15% in Gujarat, 12 patients reported every hour

Gujarat has witnessed a sharp rise in heart-related emergency cases, with more than 35,000 incidents reported in the first four months of this year, according to data from the state’s 108 EMRI emergency service.

Official figures showed that 35,717 heart-related emergency cases were registered across the state between January and April this year, marking a nearly 15% increase compared to 30,938 cases recorded during the same period last year.

The data indicates that, on average, around 298 heart emergency cases are being reported daily in Gujarat, translating to nearly 12 cases every hour.

Ahmedabad alone accounted for 9,196 cases, nearly 26% of the total heart emergencies reported in the state during the period.

According to emergency service officials, an average of 76 people from Ahmedabad are being hospitalised every day due to heart-related emergencies.

Surat recorded the second-highest number of cases, followed by Vadodara and Rajkot.

Medical experts said there had been a noticeable increase in heart-related complications among younger patients in recent years.

Doctors attributed the growing number of cases to factors such as hypertension, diabetes, lifestyle-related disorders and rising cardiovascular complications.

Cardiologists also noted an increase in advanced procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), a minimally invasive treatment used for patients suffering from severe aortic valve narrowing.

A senior doctor cited the recent case of an 82-year-old man from Valsad who had previously undergone coronary artery bypass surgery and was also diabetic.

The patient reportedly suffered from severe shortness of breath during physical activity due to degenerative aortic stenosis, a condition in which narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve restricts blood flow and places additional strain on the heart muscle.

Considering the patient’s age, previous cardiac history and overall health condition, doctors opted for a minimally invasive TAVI procedure rather than open-heart surgery.

The procedure involved replacing the damaged heart valve using a transcatheter heart valve manufactured in India by Meril, the doctor said.