SEVENTY-nine year-old Marc Walden is the first of an expected several hundred patients a year to receive angioplasty treatment in a Gwent hospital, to widen a narrowed heart artery.

Until now, Mr Walden and fellow Gwent patients would have had to go the University Hospital for Wales (UHW) in Cardiff for the treatment.

But now specialists at the Royal Gwent Hospital are carrying out the procedure, a move that will slash waiting times.

Angioplasty involves inserting a tiny balloon into the narrowed artery, via a catheter, the balloon then being inflated to widen the artery wall. Carried out by threading the catheter through blood vessels toward the damaged artery, the procedure can take between 30 minutes and two or three hours depending on the complexity the case.

Previously, Gwent patients would undergo a diagnostic angiogram and if angioplasty was deemed appropriate, they would be referred to UHW.

"There are two prime causes, angina and heart attack," said Dr Rajaram Anantharaman, who along with fellow consultant interventional cardiologist Dr James Cullen is performing angioplasty at the Royal Gwent.

"Angina patients, who are generally elective cases, from Gwent, can wait many weeks or months between the angiogram and treatment in Cardiff. With acute cases, mainly mild heart attacks, they get admitted to hospital here and transferred to Cardiff, but that can take a week or two.

"With our new service, elective patients will wait just a few weeks and acute cases two or three days."

Dr Cullen said the new service with help address "huge unmet demand' in Gwent. "It has taken three or four years to set up and is well overdue," he said.

"We will be able to treat people much earlier and we are not relying on Cardiff."

Between 400-600 cases a year could be treated at the Royal Gwent, initially elective patients from across Gwent, and acute patients from south Gwent. The aim is to expand acute treatment to all Gwent patients, and a third specialist may be recruited.

Patient 'very pleased' with Royal Gwent treatment

FOR Marc Walden, the wait between angiogram and angioplasty at the Royal Gwent has been just six weeks - but waiting for treatment in Cardiff could have lasted into the autumn.

"I'm very pleased. It's much less of a wait and it's been more familiar here, my case has been kept with the same group of specialists. It's also less of a trek than Cardiff," he said.

Angioplasty can vastly improve patients' health and quality of life and help avoid bypass surgery.

Cardiac rehabilitation is available afterward, to help patients' improve their fitness and confidence.

Aneurin Bevan Health Board cardiology directorate manager Celia Satherley said the new service is worth £1.5m annually but is cost neutral as cases and funding have moved from Cardiff to Newport.

The Royal Gwent and St Woolos Hospitals Cardiology Fund played a vital role in helping launch the new service, contributing around £10,000 for new audit software.