The Children's Hospital at Westmead Unveils First in Australia Paediatric Life Saving Technology

On 10:30 am on October 8, The Children's Hospital at Westmead launched a state of the art multimillion dollar paediatric interventional radiology operating suite.  With a new biplane flat panel angiography machine and integrated ultrasound, this suite is the most advanced of its kind in the world, offering a new dimension in minimally invasive procedures in children: 3D imaging.

This has been made possible through a generous donation of $2.6 million dollars by Sargent's Pies Charitable Foundation.

Interventional radiologists at The Children's Hospital at Westmead are specialist trained doctors who ‘operate' on children by inserting small sophisticated devices through 1-2mm holes in the skin, seeing inside the body using the angiography machine and ultrasound.

The new biplane flat panel angiography machine allows high resolution 3D imaging, bringing new sophistication and safety to these procedures, all with lower radiation dose to the child and the interventional radiology team. All this results in procedures with less risk, less pain, shorter hospitalisation and faster recovery for our children.

Interventional radiology is now an essential part of the treatment of children with vascular malformations. Vascular malformations are abnormal tangles of blood vessels that cause pain by swelling or bleeding.  Rather than cut the malformations out with traditional surgery, interventional radiology allows the treating doctor to enter malformation and treat it from the inside, leaving no scars or risk to the surrounding body tissues.

Also dependent on interventional radiology include children with liver transplantation, cancer, and neurosurgical conditions.

The biplane digital angiography machine, the Siemens Artis Zee, is the most advanced of its kind in the world. "It's really important that sick children are not left out of medicine's minimally invasive revolution," said Dr David Lord.  "This fully funded donation from Sargent's has guaranteed access to this life saving technology for a generation of Australian children. To be able to offer this level of care, with such improved safety makes us extremely grateful."

The Children's Hospital at Westmead is the largest paediatric centre in NSW, providing the most advanced care and treatment options for children from NSW, Australia and across the Pacific Rim. 

Established in 1880, The Children's Hospital at Westmead is a stand-alone public Hospital and registered charity with 3,000 staff working in 150 departments. Over 60,000 sick children and their families are cared for each year in a family-focused, healing environment.

Funded by the NSW Government, The Children's Hospital at Westmead provides significant enhancements to services aided by the generosity of individual and corporate donors.  For more information visit http://www.chw.edu.au/

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