independent

Saturday 18 May 2013

Doctors save patient's life with alcohol

Doctors have saved a patient's life by killing off part of his heart with neat alcohol.

Medics used the rare treatment to induce a controlled heart attack.

Cardiologist Dr Tom Johnson said his patient Ronald Aldom would never have left the Bristol Heart Institute if his condition could not be treated.

The 77-year-old was suffering from a life threatening heart arrhythmia.

A team of surgeons tried to treat the condition using standard procedures but were unable to safely perform them.

The team decided to treat Mr Aldom, from Portishead near Bristol, with "ethanol ablation" – injecting alcohol into the heart to kill off damaged tissue.

"The patient is doing tremendously well," said Dr Johnson.

Irish Independent

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