Lack of heart surgery facilities ‘atrocious’

Press, 26 May 1984, Page 8

Lack of heart surgery facilities ‘atrocious’

The lack of heart surgery facilities in Christchurch was described as “unbelievable” and “atrocious” by an eminent American cardiothoracic surgeon yesterday. Dr W. D. Johnson, of Milwaukee, said he knew of no other city of Christchurch’s size in the Western world where heart surgery was not available. A pioneer of coronary artery surgery, Dr Johnson was in Christchurch yesterday to attend a one-day seminar on the subject at The Princess Margaret Hospital. He has developed the techniques he started in 1968 to the extent that 99 per cent of heart patients are candidates for surgery, even those with diffused obstructions of the artery who could not be helped by a conventional by-pass operation. Dr Johnson is one of a few surgeons who can perform this operation by cleaning out and reconstructing the artery. Two years ago he had a Christchurch man as a patient. Dr Johnson emphasised that surgery should be done before there was any serious damage of the heart or

arteries, and he was critical of the length of time patients had to wait for surgery in New Zealand. It was important to diagnose and treat the illness, and rehabilitate the patient as quickly as possible, he said. If the surgery was performed early the patient’s life expectancy was as good as that of the general population. Studies in the United States and Europe showed that patients who continued to work until they underwent heart surgery had a greater chance of working

after than those who spent more than six months at home waiting for surgery. More could be done for patients with heart disease than any other chronic illness, both in terms of life expectancy and quality of life, he said. For these reasons he did not believe there should be limits on the amount of money spent on coronary care. No limits were placed on the money spent on the treatment of cancer patients even if their life expectancy was only five years, he said. Yet a person suffering from heart disease and with the potential to be rehabilitated back into society could not be treated at Christchurch, he said. This was “unbelievable” and “atrocious,” he said. Facilities for angioplasty (opening of the arteries), were available in Christchurch, but could not be used because there was no surgical stand-by, he said. Dr Johnson was the guest speaker at yesterday’s seminar on his way home from Melbourne where he was the guest lecturer at a meeting of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons.