A Manxwoman has become the 100th patient in the UK to undergo pioneering lung procedure at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, writes Paul Hardman.

Anne Pilling, aged 84, of Ballasalla, underwent balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), five years after the hospital first performed the pioneering procedure for patients with a rare form of pulmonary hypertension.

Anne has chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a condition caused by blood clots which block the arteries of the lungs.

Over time, this results in increased pressure and resistance to blood flow in the lungs leading to pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure.

Patients with the condition often cannot work and need pulmonary vasodilator drug therapy and sometimes supplemental oxygen therapy just to do the simplest tasks without limiting breathlessness.

For many patients like Anne, surgery is not an option because of the clots in the lungs being too difficult to get to.

However, balloon pulmonary angioplasty - a minimally invasive procedure delivered only at Royal Papworth Hospital - gives patients a better quality of life.

During the procedure, an interventional cardiologist inserts a very fine wire into blood vessels in the lungs and guides a tiny balloon into position.

The balloon is inflated, to around the size of a pea, for a few seconds to push the blockage aside and restore blood flow to the lung tissue.

The balloon is then deflated and removed.

This can be repeated several times in different parts of the lung during a single treatment session.

The procedure - which is performed under a light sedation and local anaesthetic - usually involves four treatment sessions, each lasting up to two hours, spaced four to six weeks apart.

In Anne’s case, because of her journey from the island, her treatment was condensed into one week, meaning she could stay in the hospital and didn’t need to travel back and forth to Cambridge via taxi and aeroplane.

Since carrying out its first balloon pulmonary angioplasty in 2015, Royal Papworth Hospital was commissioned by the NHS to become the national centre for balloon pulmonary angioplasty in 2018.

Dr Steve Hoole, consultant cardiologist at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: ’In the last five years, we have clearly shown that balloon pulmonary angioplasty is a very safe treatment in our hands.

’It can lead to significant benefits for patients with this type of pulmonary hypertension including reduced breathlessness, improved exercise capacity, and reduced right heart strain which we believe will result in an increased life expectancy.

’Thanks to the procedure, some patients may eventually be able to wean off long-term, high-cost drug therapy and instead have the chance to get on with their lives. We hope to be able to offer the treatment to many more patients in the future.’

Anne was referred to Royal Papworth Hospital by her doctors in the island via the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.

’I started feeling breathless three years ago and then two years ago saw my local doctor’, she said from her bedroom in the hospital’s respiratory ward.

’I didn’t have asthma, or angina, and I was referred to a cardiologist.

’Then I started having these "black out" episodes where I would fall at home and not remember it.

’One day this happened in public and because I hit my head I was rushed to accident and emergency where I had some tests and was diagnosed with chronic blood clots on the lung. I was then referred for treatment in Cambridge.

’I have felt very safe.

’The staff are fantastic and very caring, looking after me when I’m so far from home.’

When she returns back to the Isle of Man to her husband, Bob - who is also 84 - Anne is looking forward to an improved quality of life and ’feeling better’, being more active, doing gardening and, when safe to do so, heading to Spain for her annual trip at the start of each year.