East of England heart valve patients undergo less invasive op
Ms Baker from Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire was treated in May 2025 and said she was "feeling a thousand percent better".It was deemed too risky to fix her leaky heart valve with open heart surgery, so she had a TAVI fitted at the Cambridge hospital."I used to play golf and go to the gym two to three times a week, but my condition built up gradually, and I was feeling really poorly because my valve was leaking quite badly," she said."I was so short of breath all the time – I could barely walk a few yards without stopping, and even talking to people was hard."Since her treatment, she had started driving again and planned to get back to playing golf and going to the gym.Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was the only hospital in the East of England, and one of a few in the UK, using the Trilogy valve technology.
Another patient, a 76-year-old woman from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, also underwent the procedure in May and has noticed a big improvement in her breathing.She explained: "Beforehand, I couldn't walk very far, and I couldn't do quite a few things around the house because I was getting out of breath so quickly."Having the Trilogy TAVI valve has really improved my quality of life. I've just had a wander around the supermarket and bought some groceries, and I came home and unpacked everything from the car."Dr Charis Costopoulos said: "These patients now can have definitive treatment here. "Previously, people who were deemed inoperable would bounce in and out of hospital with little quality of life between admissions."It also means that high-risk patients who would otherwise have surgical aortic valve replacement as their only option can now be treated minimally invasively, resulting in reduced hospital length of stay and much quicker recovery."
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Shop-bought health tests not always fit for purpose, researchers warn
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
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Bernie Croal, president of the Royal College of Pathologists, warned of the knock-on effects for the NHS: 'There are significant risks to patients when poor quality tests are carried out inappropriately, with both false reassurance and unnecessary consequences for the NHS to repeat tests or take additional action.' Since the initial sample in 2023, researchers have continued to track the booming self-test market. A repeat search of the same geographical area in December 2024 identified 63 tests, twice as many as the previous year. 'There is an urgent need for coherent guidance and improved regulation to protect both individuals and healthcare systems from misuse and misinformation,' researchers concluded. Irwin Armstrong, founder and CEO of CIGA Healthcare and Suresign, which provides three of the numerous self-tests studied, criticised the BMJ study. He said: 'We find this blanket condemnation of a small range of home tests available to be unreasonable and unprofessional, since they admit they are content with many of those examined. This is not a clinical approach to a highly scientific subject. 'They also did not confirm that the clinical studies related to our tests were supplied to them, as confirmed to us by the BMJ. Our detailed responses to their questions were not fully reflected in their article. 'They have implicitly criticised the professionalism of notified bodies appointed by the MHRA, when we find them to be very exacting in their audits. We are content [that] our tests give the public access to healthcare screening not easily available with the NHS at the present time.' Mr Armstrong added: 'Suresign tests are intended to be used as screening tests and not for taking medical decisions. They are not intended to replace tests carried out by professionals. Currently, it is difficult to get an appointment with a GP and therefore, these tests provide information to enable users to actively seek a medical opinion if necessary.'
