People with a type of debilitating heart valve disease will have greater access to specialist treatment, wherever they live in NSW, thanks to a $21.6 million funding boost from the NSW Government.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the funding in the upcoming 2021-22 NSW Budget will help patients with aortic stenosis, particularly the elderly, who may have no or extremely limited treatment options.
“This funding will allow complex patients who can’t undergo open heart surgery, to have a less invasive, life-saving procedure,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Importantly, this will also improve quality of life. In an ageing population, this is a critical issue and we need to ensure our health system is able to help support that.”
Aortic stenosis is a condition where the aortic valve cannot fully open and close, restricting blood flow. It is generally caused by a build-up of calcium on the heart valve leaflets, and is the most common type of heart valve disease in elderly Australians.
During a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) procedure, an artificial aortic valve is implanted into the patient’s heart via a thin tube inserted into an artery, and maneuvered with a wire up to the heart.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said TAVI is one of the great success stories in interventional cardiology and this funding offers opportunities to expand this treatment option to our most complex patients.
“Importantly the investment will help NSW Health define and strengthen referral pathways for our regional and rural patients into the seven hospitals offering the highly-specialised High-risk TAVI service,” Mr Hazzard said.
“In addition to extending and improving the quality of life of those affected, our aim is also to build specialist capacity within our health system to deliver TAVI to this high-risk cohort of patients.”
The High-risk TAVI Supra-LHD Service will be available at John Hunter Hospital, Royal North Shore, Royal Prince Alfred, St Vincent’s, Westmead, Liverpool and at a yet to be determined hospital within South East Sydney Local Health District.
The investment in expanding the revolutionary key-hole heart surgery follows the NSW Government’s $150 million investment in cardiovascular disease in the 2018 Budget
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