Tests boost for 300 angina sufferers

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust now has a team which can image the blood flow to the heart via radioactive tracer medicine (myocardial perfusion scintigraphy – MPS).

This replaces the traditional exercise testing for angina sufferers – where patients were put through their paces on a treadmill – and was only previously available in Leeds.

The team is headed by Dr Heshan Panditaratne, a consultant radiologist who specialises in nuclear and chest radiology.

He said: “These tests enable us to look inside the patient with suspected angina. They give us a much more accurate assessment and a full picture of the blood flow to the heart.

“It is more involved but it is better for the patients as doctors get more vital information upon which they can base their future treatment.

“We are delighted to able to offer this service close to home saving a huge amount of travelling for the 300 patients every year who need the assessment.”