New cardiac equipment at Infirmary

Consultant cardiologist Dr Tim Gray with the new intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) machine

Consultant cardiologists at Rochdale Infirmary are all smiles following the delivery of a specialist piece of equipment to the Silver Heart cardiac catheter unit.

The intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) machine takes ultrasound images within coronary arteries on patients who are experiencing chest pains or heart problems.

The machine will allow medical staff to more clearly define the anatomy within the coronary arteries and then decide on the best way to treat them.

Costing £50,000, the IVUS machine has been contracted to the Infirmary on permanent loan by Boston Scientific.

Hoping to perform around 40 IVUS tests per year initially, patients will no longer have to be transferred to either Manchester Royal Infirmary or Wythenshawe Hospital to undergo the procedure.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Tim Gray is excited to be using the new piece of equipment. He said: “IVUS has been around for a few years, but the technology has improved greatly and the quality of the images it produces now is incredible.”

Patients who would need an IVUS are undergoing tests to see if they have coronary artery disease. Dr Gray explained: “Coronary artery disease is the furring up of the coronary arteries, which can cause angina and heart attacks.

“Traditionally we have used a procedure called angiography to see how badly affected the arteries are. This involves inserting a short tube into the artery at either the top of the patient’s leg or in their wrist. Long fine catheters (tubes) are then fed through this and up into the heart. Dye is injected into the coronary arteries so that we can see on an x-ray if there are any narrowings or blockages within them.

“Using the new IVUS machine follows a similar pattern – however once the wire has been inserted into the coronary artery, the IVUS probe is then passed along this, allowing pictures to be taken inside the artery.

“Depending on the results of the test, we can then decide on the best treatment options for the patient which can include tablets, angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.”

Angiography is usually performed as a day case procedure. With around 2,200 angiograms performed at Rochdale each year, the IVUS machine will complement the angiography service. If patients are found to need angioplasty whilst they are undergoing the IVUS test, this can also be performed at the same time as the cardiologist can see more clearly how the artery can be opened up.

Dr Gray continued: “Angioplasty is the gold standard treatment for patients who attend hospital with heart attacks, and can cure people of angina when performed in combination with the right tablets.

“The operation starts off like an angiogram in that long catheters are passed up into the heart and inserted into the narrowed artery. A stent which is a tiny metal tube which looks like open mesh, and is mounted on a small balloon, is passed over the wire and inflated to keep the artery open. Once the stent is in place, the balloon is deflated and removed. The IVUS machine really helps us to plan what size balloons and stents to use as it captures the images within patients’ arteries in perfect detail.”