London Health Sciences Centre has become one of the few hospitals in Canada to provide a treatment typically used in cancer care to treat a patient’s heart condition.

Radiation therapy is generally provided as a cancer treatment. But at Victoria Hospital’s Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre on Oct. 14, George Westerik became the first LHSC patient with ventricular tachycardia – a condition in which damage to the heart causes it to beat irregularly, potentially leading to cardiac arrest – to receive radiation as treatment for the ailment.

The treatment was lauded by LHSC cardiologist Anthony Tang.

“He’s the first case (at LHSC), and it’s already effective, which, honestly, it’s a miracle,” said Tang. “It’s a bit surprising, even for me to say, ‘Wow, this is incredible.’”

The innovative rad

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