A new video lets people see first-hand what a patient experiences during an innovative heart treatment.
The YouTube video follows patient Peter Joyce through his journey of having a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) performed at Tauranga Hospital.
PCI is a minimally invasive procedure used totreat narrowed coronary arteries of the heart found in heart disease. It is also known as angioplasty or stenting and was introduced to Tauranga Hospital last April, after previously only being available outside of the Bay of Plenty.
PCI is performed whilst the patient remains awake and in the video PCI Cardiologist Barry Kneale feeds a catheter through Mr Joyce's wrist and up through blood vessels so that the arteries supplying the heart can be seen via x-ray guidance.
Mr Joyce said he hoped the video would help show others how simple it was and to ease the minds of anyone who might be about to undergo the procedure.
