WEDNESDAY saw the official handing over of the Cardiac Echo Scanner from Friends of University Hospital Kerry to the Cardiac Unit of the hospital.

Over €70,000 was raised at the Annual Greyhound Meeting at the Kingdom Greyhound Stadium in 2017.

The scanner was bought and has been working since the end of 2017. There are now two machines in the Unit and 18 patients are scanned each day.

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Dr. Louis Keary, Consultant Cardiologist thanked the Friends of University Hospital Kerry for helping to raise funds for the machine.

He said that having a second machine has made a huge difference to the waiting lists and is making a big contribution to the health and welfare of the people of Kerry.

He thanked Frank Hayes of Kerry Group who are they major sponsor for the Greyhound Meeting.

Mr Frank Hayes said that he was delighted to be involved with the project and that University Hospital Kerry could count on the continued support of Kerry Group.

This year’s fundraising event will take place in July and all involved with the Friends of University Hospital Kerry are looking forward to yet another successful night at the dogs.

Diseases of the chest and blood vessels (heart attacks and strokes) cause over 9,000 deaths in Ireland each year.

Early diagnosis of these diseases allow treatment to be started, which in any cases can prevent crippling illnesses and death.

One of the ways of examining the heart and blood vessels is by the use of a Cardiac Ultrasound or ECHO machine.

This is a very simple and painless way of looking at the heart muscles, the chambers, the valves and many other important areas such as the flow of blood or the presence of clots. Demand for this test is increasing all the time.

More patients are having surgery, dialysis, chemotherapy or presenting with chest pain or heart failure. All of these need to be checked by a Cardiac Echogram.