NZ hosts first-of-its-kind course on life-saving heart technique that halves deaths

Patients are often told they are "in the best hands", yet many New Zealanders with blocked arteries in the heart are treated using outdated techniques.

Most stents are guided into place using angiography - a decades-old imaging method that provides a 2D black-and-white image of the arteries, but offers little detail from inside the vessel itself. Although widely used, it leaves cardiologists making critical decisions without the full picture.

This week, 30 cardiologists from around New Zealand and Australia will attend a specific teaching course that certifies them in two cutting-edge cardiac imaging techniques - Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS). These techniques provide detailed 3D images from inside the coronary arteries, reducing the risk of thrombosis, and subsequent heart attacks and death.

The course is being hosted by The Heart of Aotearoa - The Kia Manawanui Trust, alongside the Transcontinental Coronary Imaging and Physiology Club (TCIP) and Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology (APSC) and is the first course of its kind to be offered in New Zealand and Australia.

The Heart of Aotearoa - The Kia Manawanui Trust Chief Executive Ms Letitia Harding says New Zealanders deserve access to the best-practice cardiac care, and this course is an important step toward delivering it.

"For years, our heart patients have had stents placed using a technique that is technically adequate, but not optimal.

"It is now clear that using IVUS or OCT imaging significantly improves patient outcomes and is strongly recommended internationally," Ms Harding says.

"We have some of the best cardiologists in the world, and this course draws on their expertise to teach a technique that should become the gold standard in New Zealand."

The evidence shows that using these imaging techniques leads to a 45 per cent reduction in cardiac death, she says.

"The data is clear - these imaging techniques reduce complications, improve outcomes, and lower the risk of death. We can’t ignore that."

Trust Medical Director Dr Sarah Fairley - who is one of the course directors and a Wellington-based interventional cardiologist - says this training is an important moment for education in heart healthcare in New Zealand.

"This isn’t about showcasing novel technology - the aim is to share knowledge and provide colleagues with the training to use intravascular imaging with confidence, so they can deliver the best possible heart healthcare throughout Aotearoa."