To share the key findings from Acute Coronary Syndrome Descriptive Study (ACCORD) and the local data on Clinical Practice of the Management of ACS and use of Anti-platelet agent in Acute Hospital Settings, Sanofi Pakistan organized a Cardiovascular Symposium titled “We take Cardiac Care to Heart” recently at a local hotel in Karachi.
The Symposium was a part of continued medical education to update the knowledge of young Cardiologists and Family Physicians. It was attended by a large number of leading experts from the field of Cardiology and Family Physicians. Experts included Prof. Azhar Masood Farooqi, Dr. Bashir Hanif, Interventional Cardiologist and Chief of Tabba Heart Institute, Dr. Ejaz Vohra, Dean Faculty of Medicine, Ziauddin Medical University, Prof. M. Ishaq, Ex-Director, Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases and Dr. Faisal Ahmed, Head of Cardiology Department,LiaquatNationalHospital,Karachi.
The Symposium started with Dr. Amanullah Khan, who gave a brief overview of Sanofi and its operations around the world.
Following Dr.Khan’s presentation, Dr. Shahbaz A. Kureshi, Head of Cardiology Dept, FSGH Islamabad addressed the participants through a video conference fromIslamabadto disclose the results and findings of ACCORD. Dr. Kureshi provided a comprehensive overview on the significance of data collected on local population. He informed that ACCORD was a non interventional disease registry conducted between April 2008 and June 2009. It has 13 investigators in 6 cities acrossPakistan. Patients for study were treated according to the prevalent clinical practices. The key objective of the Study was to elevate the clinical practice of ACS management; assess the use of Anti-platelet agents in acute hospital settings and obtain information on risk factors in a large cohort of ACS patients. The study identified that major modifiable risk factors were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and dyslipidemia.
Giving some action points from the ACCORD Study, he said that there was a need to develop awareness material to assist patients in recognition of early signs and symptoms. Counseling of patients on lifestyle modification for managing modifiable risk factors is very important. There is also a need to educate patients and families on prompt cardiac medical care, better staffing care and documentation across and within coronary care units.
Dr. M. Shamim Siddiqui from Tabba Heart Institute and Dr. Tahir Sagheer of NICVD presented case studies to illustrate the findings of ACCORD.
The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Aamer Waheed, Business Unit Director, SanofiPakistan, and distribution of shields to the presenters and guest speakers.