Sourav Ganguly suffers 'mild' heart attack, undergoes angioplasty

Angioplasty is a procedure which treats blockages within the coronary arteries and improves blood flow to the heart

BCCI president and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly Saturday suffered a "mild" heart attack and is undergoing "primary angioplasty" at a city hospital, doctors said.

The 48-year-old cricket icon is stable.

"He had an acute myocardial infarction (MI) but is stable now. He is stable haemodynamically and has received loading doses of dual anti platelets and statin.

"Mr Ganguly is undergoing primary angioplasty now. We are yet to decide on how many stent insertion is required for Mr Ganguly," a doctor at Woodlands Hospital said.

A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to a part of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle.

According to an earlier account attributed to a doctor at the same hospital, he had suffered a cardiac arrest. A sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and stops beating unexpectedly.

A heart attack is a circulation problem and sudden cardiac arrest is caused due to an "electrical" issue.

Primary angioplasty, also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is a procedure which treats blockages within the coronary arteries and improves blood flow to the heart.

The doctors at the hospital said Ganguly felt chest discomfort while doing treadmill at his home gymnasium.

He has a family history of Ischemic Heart Disease, a condition of recurring chest pain or discomfort that occurs when a part of the heart does not receive enough blood. This condition occurs most often during exertion or excitement, when the heart requires greater blood flow.

A team of five doctors has been constituted to supervise his treatment, hospital sources said.

"When he was brought to the hospital this afternoon his clinical parameters were within normal limits. ECG and Echo were also done. He is responding to well to treatment," a statement released by the hospital said.