When Gordon McDougall started to feel the familiar signs: sweatiness, upset stomach, shortness of breath; coming on during a walk around Matheson Lake in September 2015, he knew his heart was in trouble B次元官网网址� again.
B次元官网网址淚 simply passed out,B次元官网网址� he said, having suffered cardiac arrest after three previous heart attacks.
McDougall was transported to Royal Jubilee Hospital, the Heart Health Centre of Excellence, where the cardiac health unit has been on the forefront of clinical trials in North America since performing its first cardiac operation in 1973.
RELATED: Heart attack survivor thanks his rescuers in Langford
Today, it is the only centre in Canada conducting research that has led to advances and innovation in how to treat heart disease, the second leading cause of death and the leading cause of hospitalization in the country.
B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 get paid for it, we do it because we want to do it,B次元官网网址� interventional cardiologist Dr. Anthony Della Siega said during B次元官网网址淕etting to the Heart of the Matter: Advances in Cardiac Care,B次元官网网址� a presentation held recently at RJH.
While the cardiac surgery program performs coronary bypass procedures, heart valve replacements and aortic aneurysm repair B次元官网网址� some 725 procedures per year B次元官网网址� Della Siega and a team of cardiologists are also at work finding better, more efficient ways to treat heart patients.
Victoria tends to punch well above its weight, Della Siega said, pointing to the pioneering of performing angiograms through the wrist, a common practice now worldwide.
The drive to push, to innovate is what B次元官网网址渨e learn in medical school,B次元官网网址� he added.
RELATED:
Dr. Chris Franco, a general cardiologist, said the question now is how to get ahead of ailments like premature coronary artery disease (CAD), his area of study. The arteries of individuals as young as 16 to 22 can have plaque present B次元官网网址� its buildup narrows arteries, decreasing blood flow to the heart.
The offspring of a person with early heart disease has double the risk of developing the same issue. Screening family members is where prevention comes into the discussion, Franco said, citing , an ongoing study to avoid cardiovascular events.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e working on recruitment through the Victoria Heart Institute Foundation to bring this project to Victoria,B次元官网网址� Franco explained. B次元官网网址淲hat we aim to do is develop diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to manage premature coronary disease.B次元官网网址�
Ongoing follow-up methods for participants and their family members will involve both treatment and study, to understand the factors that contribute to CAD going forward.
RELATED:
Bilal Iqbal, an interventional cardiologist and leading researcher at Royal Jubilee, has a vision.
B次元官网网址淚n three to five yearsB次元官网网址� time I want to be able to say Victoria is a hub for research and itB次元官网网址檚 got international recognition.B次元官网网址�
Coronary disease is present in 2.4 million Canadians, and of those who donB次元官网网址檛 have it, 90 per cent have at least one risk factor in developing it (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, increasing age), while 40 per cent of people have two.
The kind of research RJH has embarked on, and a continued drive to understand how the heart works; still, heart disease continues to pose a significant health care and economic burden.
B次元官网网址淚nterventional cardiology is a highly evolving specialty,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎ll of this has been possible because of research B次元官网网址� mostly by relying on grant bodies and donations.B次元官网网址�
In a 2016 study using the data of 6,503 patients in B.C. with a history of heart disease and heart attacks, Iqbal found only treating the blocked artery resulted in better outcomes.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got all the expertise and the skills here,B次元官网网址� said Iqbal, whose goals include starting molecular research in Victoria, and developing a PhD research training program.
Victoria is unique in that it offers access to emergency procedures B次元官网网址� in one case, the time from which a patient arrived at Royal Jubilee and underwent a B次元官网网址渂alloon treatmentB次元官网网址� to open a blocked heart valve, was just 13 minutes.
B次元官网网址淲e want to make [patients] live longer, feel better and do both if we can,B次元官网网址� Della Siega said, adding that no longer is the medical community only looking to big centres like McGill and Toronto to lead in advances.
B次元官网网址淲e have many things to achieve here and weB次元官网网址檙e well on our way.B次元官网网址�
