Alcohol used to induce heart attack to save man's life

Doctors saved a patient's life by inducing a controlled heart attack using neat alcohol to kill off an area of muscle.

Ronald Aldom, 77, was suffering from a life threatening heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia (VT) - which occurred as a result of a previous heart attack.

A team of surgeons tried to treat the condition using standard procedures but were unable to safely perform them.

The team decided to treat Mr Aldom, from Portishead near Bristol, with "ethanol ablation".

The treatment has only been conducted a handful of times in the UK to treat VT, Dr Johnson said.

The procedure involves passing a catheter to the heart from the groin which identifies which part of the heart the dangerous rhythms are coming from.

A tiny balloon is then blown up in the heart artery supplying that area and a small amount of absolute alcohol is injected into the artery to produce a small controlled heart attack.

This kills the area of the heart muscle causing the problem allowing the heart's rhythm to return to normal.

Dr Johnson said the team of medics tried to treat Mr Aldom's irregular heartbeat with medication and "electrical ablation" to try and burn away - or kill off - the area of muscle which was generating the irregular heartbeats.

But they were unable to perform the procedures - so treating they decided to treat Mr Aldom with ethanol ablation.