A retired firefighter has become one the first patients to have a cutting edge MRI scan on his heart in Sunderland - and hopes it will help doctors get to the bottom of why he has had two recent fainting episodes.
Bob Dove, 74, is under the care of the specialist heart team at Sunderland Royal hospital. Medics put him through a cardiac MRI scan this week after launching the new service. They want to find out if his fainting was to do with issues around his blood pressure medication - which has since been changed - or because he has an irregular heartbeat.
If it turns out to be the latter issue, Bob will require surgery to fit a pacemaker. Before the new service went live, Bob would have had to travel to Ashington or Middlesbrough for the NHS service.
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He said: "Some people suffer from dizziness before they collapse, but I didn’t, I just blacked out. It was scary. The scan is going to prove what’s going on, so I’m happy to have it. I’ll be able to find out whether or not I need this operation if it is arrhythmia and that should be able to stop it.
"Obviously not having to travel is a help now this is done in Sunderland, it’s here on our doorstep, because otherwise I would have had to go to Ashington or Middlesbrough."
Consultant Cardiologist Dr Alykhan Bandali, joined the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust almost two years ago and has led the development of the new scanning service. As heart issues play an outsized role in the health inequalities impacting our region, he said the new kit would help address this.
Dr Bandali said: "Addressing health inequalities in our area is essential for us and introducing this new cardiac MRI service is a very important part of it. Those we care for previously had to go all the way to Ashington or to Middlesbrough and also had to deal with the cost of getting there.
"At a time when they are feeling anxious or unwell, this can add to the stress. Now they will be able to have their scans much closer to home, in a place which is familiar to them. This will not only help those who cannot travel, but it also means all of their treatment will be here with us."
Dr Bandali explained how the scans give doctors information needed to build a real-time picture of what's occurring in someone's cardiovascular system - and this can speed up diagnoses. He said: "It will help us make a diagnosis we would otherwise struggle to reach without delaying treatment and sending a patient somewhere else for a scan first.
"I have no doubt that this new service based right here in Sunderland will help us save lives by making sure people get the treatment they need quicker."
Cardiac MRI scans show if the heart is working properly and can also help diagnose some cancers. They can also allow doctors to use stress tests to look at the impact on a patient’s heart through controlled conditions. Patients are "talked through" a series of breathing exercises while the scanner does its work - and the team at Sunderland are looking at introducing hypnotherapy to help keep people calm and regulate their heart rate during the process."
The cardiac MRI service is to run one day a week at Sunderland Royal - with plans to expand the service to South Tyneside District Hospital in the coming months.
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