'This treatment is a major development in a condition we had previously not thought curable' - Dr Northcote
Cardiac specialist, Dr Robin Northcote deliberately gave one of his patients a heart attack on the operating table - and saved his life.
The heart attack procedure was part of a pioneering operation carried out on Mr. G that had only ever been performed in America and London.
The new technique offers hope to patients suffering from hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Mr G, 73, said: ‘I have been given a second chance to live. Before, I could hardly walk a few yards without stopping for breath. Now I can golf and spend time in the gym. Heart drugs are also a thing of the past – and I was on four heart drugs a day.’
Dr Northcote’s aim was to contrive a heart attack to kill off the enlarged muscle and once this dies it does not grow back, preventing further obstruction in the future.