Life-saving treatment starts for patients with brain conditions

A new state-of-the art scanning machine has been used for the first time at the Trust to treat patients with potentially life threatening brain conditions.

Angela Webster, from Hertmonceux, became the first patient to be treated with the £1 million machine after she suffered a brain aneurysm.

The scanner, known as a neurointerventional bi-plane system, produces highly detailed three-dimensional views of blood vessels within the brain to help the diagnosis and treatment of patients with stroke, blood clots, brain and neck tumours, and other neurological conditions.

Angela was treated by threading tiny tubes through the body from the groin to the brain and then filling the aneurysm with small platinum coils.

Angela, who is recovering well, said: “Before the operation all the risks were explained upfront and I was a little bit frightened, but I couldn’t have been treated better even if I was in a five star hotel. Everything that was happening to me was explained clearly every step of the way. Everyone was so kind and I cannot thank them enough.”

The machine offers a less invasive way of treating some abnormalities of the blood vessels in the brain than surgery. The Neurointerventional Team treat up to three patients a day who have been referred from all over the South East.

The equipment can also be used to remove clots from an artery in the brain in patients who have suffered a stroke and to reduce blood flow to tumours prior to an operation.

The Neurosurgery Team moved from the Princess Royal Hospital site in Haywards Heath to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton where they now play a vital role in the Major Trauma Centre. The purchase of the bi-plane machine was timed to ensure they have the most up to date equipment in their new facility in Brighton, one of only 22 neurosurgical units in England.