Surgeons were today due to carry out the first ever UK non-invasive keyhole procedure to replace a patient's aortic heart valve.
The procedure, which was scheduled to take place at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, will mean that cardiologists will be able to treat patients without resorting to open heart surgery, as the replacement valve is implanted into the heart using a catheter.
It has been used in the past to replace pulmonary heart valves in babies and young children, after it was pioneered by Professor Philipp Bonhoeffer at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
However, this will be the first time the procedure has been used to treat an elderly patient with aortic heart valve three disease.
Commenting on the heart surgery, Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: "We're very pleased to see this technology now being used more widely in the UK to treat elderly people with life-threatening aortic heart valve three disease."
The procedure should cut recovery time by half, according to Dr Jan Kovac, consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital.
"In the past, patients had to endure open heart surgery and would have been in hospital for at least a week after their operation," he told the Western Mail.
"This new catheter treatment is much quicker and in most cases patients will be back home within a few days of the operation," he added.
© Adfero Ltd
The procedure, which was scheduled to take place at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, will mean that cardiologists will be able to treat patients without resorting to open heart surgery, as the replacement valve is implanted into the heart using a catheter.
It has been used in the past to replace pulmonary heart valves in babies and young children, after it was pioneered by Professor Philipp Bonhoeffer at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
However, this will be the first time the procedure has been used to treat an elderly patient with aortic heart valve three disease.
Commenting on the heart surgery, Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: "We're very pleased to see this technology now being used more widely in the UK to treat elderly people with life-threatening aortic heart valve three disease."
The procedure should cut recovery time by half, according to Dr Jan Kovac, consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital.
"In the past, patients had to endure open heart surgery and would have been in hospital for at least a week after their operation," he told the Western Mail.
"This new catheter treatment is much quicker and in most cases patients will be back home within a few days of the operation," he added.
© Adfero Ltd
Heart surgery news : 30/01/2007
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