Ageing populations and unhealthy lifestyles mean coronary care is a problem that needs to be tackled at a structural, rather than a case-by-case basis. The special hospital facilities of New Cross Hospital's Heart and Lung Centre, in Wolverhampton, are part of the United Kingdom's, government-funded drive to improve coronary care. However, building the Pounds60 million centre is not just about bricks and mortar. It also means ensuring the specialists have equipment at their disposal that helps them deal with the increasing, and increasingly complicated, caseload, and that can grow with the changing needs of the centre.

Patients of the New Cross Hospital are drawn mainly from an area, traditionally known as the 'Black Country', because of its association with ironworking foundries and forges. Today the Black Country is made up of most of the four Metropolitan District Council areas of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, covering a population of over 1.3 million, with Wolverhampton alone covering a catchment area of 1.1 million. The area has one of the highest mortality rates from coronary artery disease (CAD) in the country. Pressures on the existing facilities at New Cross Hospital led the hospital to put in a bid what will be the first purpose-built centre of its kind and the largest new regional tertiary centre for heart disease in the U.K. The new centre will provide long-awaited services, including cardiothoracic surgery, interventional cardiology, primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction and related services.

The right product at the right time
The United Kingdom National Health Service has always enjoyed the support of the general public, with numerous charities fund-raising on behalf of hospitals to supply specialised equipment and services that the hospital might otherwise not be able to acquire. Although traditionally not Philips users, the technical and clinical benefits of the tried and tested 3D package on the Philips' iE33 persuaded the hospital to use some charity funding to expand their cardiac services.

The cardiologists were very interested in the package for 3D quantification of the left ventricle (3DQ LV), as they thought it would benefit the heart failure service, providing better continuity and follow-up of left ventricular (LV) function assessments. They were also very excited about the complementary information, such as the dyssynchrony index, the system would let the give to the surgeons and cardiac consultants. Dr. James Cotton, Lead Consultant says, "It was very much a case of the right product at the right time. Just at the time when we were looking for another echo machine, Philips launched the iE33. We are now scanning many more patients' pre- and post-valve surgery, where 3D assessment is now becoming a valuable tool,"

More Industry Headlines