Chch woman may be sent for transplant

Press, 24 July 1984, Page 1

Chch woman may be sent for transplant

A Christchurch woman may be sent to Britain for a heart transplant similar to that given Mr Dormer Woulfe, of Dunedin, last month. Doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital are now considering that solution for the woman, aged in her mid-40s. Dr Hamid Ikram, chief of cardiology for the Canterbury Hospital Board, said, “There really is not much more left to try.” The woman, married, with a family, has had cardiomyopathy for at least 15 years. An incurable disease, the heart muscle slowly loses its ability to contract until it reaches a stage where the heart can no longer pump. New Zealand doctors had considered the possibility of overseas transplants in past years but to Dr Ikram’s knowledge; Mr Woulfe’s surgery at Harefield Hospital, Middlesex, was the first such case. It had given the idea a “burst,” he said. “The patients themselves are now asking the questions.” The Christchurch woman was not the only heart patient in Canterbury who

would qualify for a transplant. “She is managing at home, but is very limited and having to have the odd admission,” he said. The “crunch” decision on her overseas heart transplant would probably not be made for at least two , months. Doctors are trying to obtain a couple of experimental drugs that could, at least temporarily, relieve the woman’s condition. Dr Ikram said inquiries had been made at the Stanford unit in the United States four years ago. But •its requirements meant that i a patient would virtually have to shift to California. English hospitals such as Harefield, where Mr Woulfe is still recovering, and Papworth Hospital, in the Cambridge region, seemed better bets. Medical and financial eligibility were the two criteria for a heart transplant. “I think medically she would fit the situation, if not at this instant then in a few months. “The financial eligibility is of course a big problem,” Dr Ikram said.