Dr Patel (top left) at the conference
The Lancashire Cardiac Centre at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals has been at the centre of global attention this week following pioneering work which reduces the risk to those who are suffering underlying severe kidney disease and require angioplasty.
Led by Dr Billal Patel, the team at Lancashire Cardiac Centre have developed a procedure which requires much less dye to be used when performing angioplasty to insert a stent. The use of dye, known as contrast, can be harmful to kidneys for those who are at higher risk of kidney disease.
This week, Dr Patel has been presenting his ground-breaking work to medical faculties across South East Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Recently Dr Tawfiq Choudhury, part of the team, presented the technique at the European Bifurcation Club meeting and won the first prize for the best presentation.
Speaking about the development of the procedure and the subsequent interest from across the world, Dr Patel said: “In patients who have got underlying severe kidney disease there is a risk of worsening kidney function and one of the factors can be the amount of dye used. Evidence shows that patients with advanced kidney disease are more likely to have heart disease but are less likely to be investigated.
“We have this procedure, ultra-low contrast PCI, where we can do the whole procedure without using any dye at all and at the end we give one injection. We have been using this technique with the new technology and we have been one of the leading centres in the UK. We have been sharing this work globally in European meetings and was recently asked to present this to one of the large meetings in South East Asia, known as APACi hosted in Singapore”
With ultra-low contrast PCI, the use of dye can be reduced from 150mls of contrast to just 5mls in some cases, a development which provides significantly better outcomes for patients with renal disease. Dr Patel is delighted that the work is gaining worldwide attention, but most importantly allowing treatment for patients with advanced kidney disease, reducing the risk of worsening kidney function and dialysis.
“This is a huge win for Lancashire Cardiac Centre for us being one of the leading centres and demonstrating the use of this technology for this group of patients with kidney disease,”
“Our aim is to get an excellent outcome in this high-risk group of patients by providing high quality, complex intervention safely, whilst at the same time reducing the risk to damage the kidneys during the procedure.”