The cardio team at AZ Sint-Jan Brugge-Oostende has replaced a heart valve via a new catheter technique which passes through the groin. The intervention was a first in Western Europe, reported the hospital on Tuesday.
The 63-year-old patient received a new heart valve, specifically a tricuspid valve which is located on the right side of the heart, via the groin.
"Until recently, patients with severe tricuspid valve leakage could only be helped with open-heart surgery. That operation carries many risks and can only be used in a limited number of patients," explained interventional cardiologist Dr Jan Van der Heyden, who led the procedure. "The application of the catheter technique via veins is groundbreaking."
The catheter technique has already been used to replace heart valves on the left side of the heart. This procedure involves inserting a catheter with an artificial valve through an artery to the site of the aortic valve.
Hardly any rehabilitation
The operation had very good results and is much less stressful for patients as their chest does not need to be opened, their heart does not need to be stopped and there is no heart-lung machine needed. "The patient hardly needs any rehabilitation."
The operation went off without complications. "The innovative thing about this particular procedure is that the old valve is used as a [sort of] landing strip for the new valve. Unlike surgery, the native valve is not removed."
It is hoped that the new technique will allow more patients to recover from a leaky heart valve on the right side of the heart in a less invasive way. Six patients worldwide have so far been treated this way.
