LONDON: Cardiac surgeons in Leicester are just about to perform the first ever keyhole heart surgery in the country to replace an aortic valve. The technique has so far been used in very few hospitals in only four countries -- Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada.
The surgeons at Glenfield Hospital will use the less-invasive technology to replace the damaged aortic valve of Gladys Adams, 89.
Dr Jan Kovac, consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital, who will perform the surgery, said patients who had to undergo open heart surgery for replacement of valves had to remain in hospital for at least a week after their operation. The new treatment is quicker and in most cases patients will be back home within a few days of having the procedure.
He described the technique as the biggest invention in cardiology over the last 30 years since the introduction of the coronary angioplasty.
The valves are implanted using a catheter, which is passed into the body through an artery in the groin and guided to the area of replacement. It totally avoids the pain and trauma involved in open heart surgery.
Kovac said as more and more of such operations are performed around the world, patients in the future will be able to have heart valves replaced percutaneously (through the skin) in a cath lab rather than through an open heart surgery.
