大象传媒

This episode looks at pioneering treatments for some of the oldest and youngest patients in the hospital.

A 98-year-old man arrives at Hammersmith Hospital for a landmark heart operation. John is the oldest person surgeons have ever carried out the procedure on. The operation known as TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) is offered to patients who are deemed not suitable for open heart surgery. An artificial valve is inserted through an artery in the groin, up through the body and into the heart. Without the op, John has been told he has only a 50 per cent chance of surviving the next six months.

The operation gets under way, but things don't go to plan and soon another surgical team from a different hospital within the Trust is drafted in to save John's life.

The clock is also ticking for 18-year-old Debbie at St Mary's Hospital, home to the Trust's specialist paediatric centre. Debbie is about to have a life-saving bone marrow transplant which could cure her of sickle cell disease. She has already had a number of strokes as a result of her condition and without the transplant her outcome looks bleak. Imperial is one of only a few trusts in the country where they transplant with a 50 per cent match, and her brother Sam has agreed to donate his bone marrow to save her life. 'Anything I've done up to this point means nothing compared to when you can give a bit of yourself to save someone else. Now that's responsibility,' he says.

Currently, the groundbreaking treatment Debbie will receive is only offered to patients under the age of 19. Leena Karnik, consultant pediatric haematologist, tells us, 'We don't know how things are going to pan out in the future, but it's certainly known that this is Debbie's last chance.'.