Making every heart beat stronger

A few days later, the 84-year-old great-grandfather was recovering at home.

The whole ordeal took Graham by surprise, especially because he had no warning signs of a weakened heart.

“The cardiologist said, ‘if we don’t fix it, one day while you’re out walking you’ll get some shortness of breath, and the likelihood is you’ll have a heart attack, and I don’t fancy you’ll get through it.’ That’s when I realised this was more serious than I thought,” says Graham.

“Without this TOE procedure, I never would have known that I had a leaky valve and what the consequences could have been. I’m very grateful.”

The TOE ultrasound and probe was used twice for Graham.

1. To assess the structure and function of his heart from inside his body, and discover the leaky valve.

2. During keyhole surgery to precisely and safely guide our cardiac team as they repaired his valve with a MitraClip.

With our brand new Cardiac Catheter Laboratory set to open in 2026, a second TOE ultrasound and probe will give cardiologists like Dr Mark Freilich the detailed, real-time imaging they need to guide complex cardiac procedures safely and precisely.

“The main growth area in cardiology over the next 20 years is going to be structural heart interventions – being able to better repair and replace valves through keyhole rather than open heart surgery,” says Dr Freilich.

“But right now, we have to borrow the TOE ultrasound and probe from the electrophysiology lab where they treat abnormal heart rhythms. This means we’re unable to grow this service because we’re limited by only having one TOE.”

“You never know when you’re going to be the person on the Cath Lab table needing an angiogram, or an ablation, or a procedure to repair or replace your valve. And the better equipment we’ve got, the better we can improve or save your life, and the lives of your family members and friends.”

For patients with severe coronary heart disease, rhythm disturbances, aortic stenosis, or mitral regurgitation like Graham, the TOE machine will:

1. Provide high-resolution, real-time images of the heart’s chambers, valves and major blood vessels during surgery and complex procedures.

2. Find blood clots and other abnormalities inside the heart that might not show up on a standard echocardiogram.

3. Guide cardiac surgery with greater precision.

4. Improve accuracy and patient outcomes for both keyhole and open-heart procedures.

This life-saving machine will be used every single day by our team of cardiologists, surgeons and anaesthetists to help make hearts like Graham’s beat stronger.

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