Sourav Ganguly undergoes 'primary' angioplasty after 'mild' heart attack

BCCI president and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly Saturday suffered a "mild" heart attack and had to undergo a quick "primary angioplasty" to clear a blocked coronary artery, a doctor said.

The cricket icon is conscious and his condition is being monitored. He was diagnosed with three blocked coronary arteries after which a stent was inserted in one to remove the blockage, Dr Saroj Mandal, whose team performed the procedure at private Woodlands Hospital, said. A decision on whether to implant more stents will be taken later depending on his condition.

"He will be under strict observation for the next couple of days. We will be taking a decision on our next course of action depending on his improvement. His other parameters are fine and needs to be in the hospital for next
three to four days," Mondal said.

Ganguly was rushed to the hospital Saturday afternoon following a complaint of chest pain. "He had an acute myocardial infarction (MI). We have found three blocks in his heart. We have conducted a primary angioplasty on him and one stent has been inserted. He is awake and absolutely stable," Mondal said.

"He suffered a myocardial infarction while doing the treadmill this morning. He had a similar experience Friday also. He was rushed to the hospital immediately and that helped us a lot in treating him," the doctor said. An 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 that treats blockages within the coronary arteries and improves blood flow to the heart.

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.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern over Ganguly's hospitalisation.

"Sad to hear that Sourav Ganguly suffered a mild cardiac arrest and has been admitted to hospital. Wishing him a speedy and full recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family," Banerjee tweeted.

The development came at a time when speculations were rife about his joining politics ahead of the state assembly elections likely in April-May this year. According to political circles in the state, the former batting great could join the BJP, but Ganguly himself never made his intentions quite clear about taking the political plunge. Ganguly was officially entrusted with the task of heading Indian cricket in October 2019 at the BCCI's General Body meeting in Mumbai, ending a controversial 33-month reign of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA).

He became the BCCI's 39th president succeeding C K Khanna, who was the interim head of the Board since 2017. Ganguly's tenure was for nine months but he and Board secretary Jay Shah have continued nonetheless as the Supreme Court has still not ruled on the BCCI's plea seeking amendments to its new constitution, which put a cap on the age and tenure of office-bearers as recommended by the Lodha Committee. Ganguly had earlier held positions in the Cricket Association of Bengal. The former India captain began as joint secretary at the CAB in 2014.