Cardiac patients in Mymensingh have much to cheer about as a cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cath lab), was inaugurated at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH) yesterday.

Patients admitted at the 1,000-bed hospital with heart diseases will be able to avail better treatment from this lab, said hospital sources.

Cath lab is an examination room in a hospital or clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualise arteries and chambers of the heart and treat any stenosis or abnormality found.

MMCH is often burdened with patients three times its capacity. Of those, some 200 are currently admitted at the cardiology department against its 20 seats.

But they could not be served fully when they needed stenting. "Now patients will get this facility at the hospital," said Dr Ganapati Aditya, an associate professor of cardiology (head of unit-2), at MMCH.

A stent is a tiny tube that doctors can insert into a blocked passageway to keep it open. Stents restore flow of blood or other fluids, depending on where it's placed.

Dr Aditya said previously, many had to travel to Dhaka to get the services.

"Disadvantaged patients will be benefitted most from this lab," said Dr Laxmi Narayan Majumder, deputy director of MMCH.

A patient will have to pay around Tk 6,000 for angiogram and related tests at the hospital, which is around Tk 25,000 in private hospitals.

Thousands from greater Mymensingh region (Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrakona, Kishoreganj and Tangail), Sylhet, Sunamganj, Gazipur, Gaibandha, Kurigram and Gazipur districts come to the hospital for treatment, said the deputy director.

The cath lab was launched at a programme organised by the cardiology department in assistance with "Bangladesh Society of Cardiac Intervention" and "Bangladesh Cardiac Society", at the conference room of the department in the afternoon.

Speakers at the inaugural session said it will need more interventional cardiologists and a "Cardiac Surgery Unit" to handle to the huge rush of heart patients.

Director of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Prof Dr Mir Jamal Uddin; head of cardiology department at MMCH Prof MA Bari; Prof Dr AKM Fazlur Rahman; Prof Dr Abul Hossain Khan and principal of Mymensingh Medical College Prof Dr Chitta Ranjan Devnath spoke on the occasion, among others.