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Western Australian Cardiovascular Researchers Lead the World

"Firsts" in Western Australia

Treatment of High Blood Pressure

  • Western Australia leads the world in a catheter based approach to lower blood pressure in patients who fail to respond to medication or lifestyle changes. Click hear to find out more.

 

Familial Hypercholesterolemia

  • Western Australia leads the world in research and models of care for patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia. 

  • Hypercholesterolemia is a condition in which excessive cholesterol levels are present in the blood.

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Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD)

  • Western Australia introduced the first patient-initiated network for SCAD patients.

  • SCAD occurs when a spontaneous split or separation develops between the layers of a blood vessel wall that is responsible for providing blood flow to the heart. The space between the blood vessel wall layers may fill with blood, causing a blockage which leads to a heart attack. 

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Coronary Intervention and Bypass Grafting 

  • Western Australia-linked databases provide the longest follow up in the world for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

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Epidemiology & Population Health Studies 

  • Busselton Health Study is the longest continuous running longitudinal study in the world. Established in 1966 it includes the study of the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases.

  • The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study est 1989 is one of the largest successful prospective cohorts of pregnancy, childhood, adolescence and now early adulthood to be carried out anywhere in the world that includes cardiovascular risk assessment and outcomes.

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Organ Transplants 

  • Heart-lung transplant patients in Western Australia experience the longest survival rate nationally. 

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Vascular Calcification Scoring

  • Researchers in Western Australia are the first to design F18-sodium fluoride positron-emission tomography (PET) for vascular calcification scoring. Positron-emission tomography is a nuclear medicine functional imaging technique utilised to observe metabolic processes in the body as an aid to the diagnosis of disease.

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Calculation of Aneurysm Wall Stress 

  • A collaboration between biomedical researchers in WA and Edinburgh has resulted in a method to calculate wall stress in aortic aneurysms with the aim of reducing mortality through faster diagnosis.

  • An aneurysm is the enlargement or distention of an artery that eventuates due to weakness in the arterial wall. Aneurysm rupture can lead to fatal consequences, therefore it is essential to calculate the wall stress to prevent fatalities.  

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Obesity Co-Morbidity Survival ​

  • Western Australian researchers are the first in Australia to design an Australia-wide assessment of the incidence and survival of coronary heart disease patients with diabetes.

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Age-specific Rates for Acute Coronary Syndrome

  • Western Australian researchers have identified that age-specific rates for Acute Coronary Syndrome are increasing annually in Australian women and men aged 35-54 years.

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Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry 

  • First Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry in Australia and New Zealand.

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Please contact WACRA to inform us of any firsts that have been achieved here in Western Australia. We will acknowledge and include these achievements.

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