Specialist heart clinic trialled at Forth Valley Royal to help treatment of cardiac condition

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A new specialist heart clinic is being piloted at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in a bid to improve treatment of a cardiac condition which mainly affects women.The clinic aims to improve treatment for patients with a condition called Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD).Patients with SCAD first present with a heart attack, only later finding out that the cause is a bit different compared with many heart attacks.SCAD most commonly affects women in their 40s and 50s, though it can occur at any age and also affect men.

Those affected are often healthy, fit individuals and may not have the common risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol or diabetes.The new clinic is being trialled over a two-year period with the support of a number of leading researchers and clinicians: Dr Dave Adlam, a cardiologist and leading UK expert on SCAD who runs a UK-wide clinic in Leicester previously treating many SCAD patients who travelled from Scotland for his expertise; and Professor Lis Neubeck from Edinburgh Napier University’s Centre for Cardiovascular Health, whose research with SCAD survivors helped illustrate the need for a new SCAD clinic in Scotland.Dr Anne Scott, a consultant cardiologist at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, is running the new monthly SCAD clinics with her colleague Dr Claire Murphy and Dr Dave Adlam for the first year of the pilot.In the second year, Dr Scott and Dr Murphy will run the clinics with ongoing virtual support from Dr Adlam.

Professor Neubeck is an expert in cardiac rehabilitation. Prof Neubeck will be working with rehabilitation teams across Scotland to support improvements in rehabilitation services, informed by research carried out with patients who have suffered