Dr Chris Nunn
Breaking new ground in the early 1990's with balloons and stents.
Cardiologist Dr Chris Nunn says the Heart Foundation Fellowship he received many years ago enabled him to gain cutting-edge international experience that led to his role in establishing Waikato hospital’s interventional primary angioplasty (during an acute heart attack) programme.
As an Otago Medical School graduate in 1991, Dr Chris Nunn was awarded a Heart Foundation Overseas Training Fellowship. He trained at the University of Florida to study interventional cardiology – the use of balloons and metal tubes or stents to open blocked arteries – a technique which had only recently been invented.
"It was a new, evolving technology in those days. The stents were just being researched at the time and they were not widely available anywhere in the world," says Dr Nunn.
The centre in Florida was one of the few places in the world using these new angioplasty techniques.
As an Otago Medical School graduate in 1991, Dr Chris Nunn was awarded a Heart Foundation Overseas Training Fellowship. He trained at the University of Florida to study interventional cardiology – the use of balloons and metal tubes or stents to open blocked arteries – a technique which had only recently been invented.
"It was a new, evolving technology in those days. The stents were just being researched at the time and they were not widely available anywhere in the world," says Dr Nunn.
The centre in Florida was one of the few places in the world using these new angioplasty techniques.
"Up until this time, people who had a heart attack were given medication to dissolve the blood clot. The problem with that was that it was only successful in about 50 to 60 per cent of cases. Although it definitely improved the survival rate for patients, it was still a long way from the ideal solution.
"The success rate of the new angioplasty techniques was closer to 90 per cent allowing us to significantly reduce the amount of damage to the heart."
Dr Nunn spent two years in Florida gaining training and experience in interventional cardiology, before bringing his expertise back to New Zealand.
In 1994 he established the interventional programme at Waikato Hospital – introducing stenting and primary angioplasty for acute heart attack patients.
"When I returned to New Zealand, I introduced the techniques to Waikato Hospital, which became the first centre in the country to provide a 24/7 service for patients who presented with heart attacks," says Dr Nunn.
"Since then, we’ve operated on around 2500 patients, and their long-term survival is as good as anywhere in the world," he adds.
"One of the key benefits of fellowships is that in a short time, you get exposure to a very large number of procedures and work with extremely experienced practitioners, sometimes leaders in the world. You gain the skillset that allows you then to lead programmes back here in New Zealand."
Waikato Hospital has been running a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, primary angioplasty programme ever since.
"The interventional team has really grown since then. Obviously, there is a lot more variety now, and a lot greater technology is used for a variety of things, but, that’s where it started. I'm grateful to the Heart Foundation for enabling me to do the things that I was able to do."
Dr Nunn recognises that many very experienced cardiologists in New Zealand have benefited from these Heart Foundation fellowships and are now recognised worldwide for their work.
"It's incredibly valuable. Essentially, if I didn't have the fellowship, it is highly unlikely I would have been able to go to America to get that training. The fellowship made it all possible."
– Chris Nunn, interventional cardiologist and Heart Foundation fellowship recipient.