ISLAMABAD
Following reports that jailed PTI founder Imran Khan could not undergo a recommended computed tomography angiography (CTA) during a hospital visit this week, his party condemned the authorities over their “continued failure” to carry out the procedure and demanded that it be immediately conducted at Shifa International Hospital.
When the PTI founder was brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in the early hours of Friday for an eye procedure and other diagnostic examinations, doctors recommended a CTA of the heart, but hospital staff reportedly said the facility was unavailable. After other tests, he was subsequently shifted back to Adiala jail, reportedly without undergoing the CTA, which can help identify coronary blockages and assess the risk of a heart attack.
Sources told the Cardiac Centre’s conventional angiography facility at Pims was different from CTA. While conventional angiography involves inserting a catheter into a blood vessel, CTA is performed using a CT scanner and does not require puncturing a vein.
Doctors pointed out that a 128-slice CT scanner had been operational in Pims’ radiology department since March 2022 and was capable of performing CTA. The test is generally conducted by radiologists on the recommendation of clinicians. A senior doctor said the patient should therefore have been referred to radiology department.
Taking notice of the reports, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday formed an inquiry committee, headed by the establishment division secretary, to establish facts and fix responsibility.
On Sunday, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, in a written message to Dawn, reiterated the PTI’s demand to move Imran to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad without any delay — which the Supreme Court had also directed on August 18.
Akram also cited details submitted to the court, saying a medical board of the government had examined Imran on August 10 while a Pims cardiologist had already recommended CT Coronary Angiography for him on August 1 due to fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headaches, restlessness and the potential risk of cardiac complications arising from his age and prolonged isolation.
“Even the government’s own doctors considered this diagnostic test necessary,” Akram stated. “Yet, when Imran Khan was taken to Pims, the procedure was not performed. Hospital officials claimed that the required facility was unavailable, despite the presence of a functional CT scanner in the radiology department capable of conducting the test,” he alleged.
