Health in a Hurry

Monday, April 03, 2006

"Closed-Heart" Valve Replacement

New surgical methods are allowing cardiac surgeons to replace heart valves without cracking open patients' chests. One patient received an artificial valve through a two inch incision in the chest and another received one through a leg artery ("percutaneous valve replacement.") Traditional valve replacement surgery requires that the breastbone be sawed open, the heart stopped, the old valve cut out and the new one sewed in. The period of recovery for this surgery is at least two months and many patients in need of valve replacement are not strong enough to undergo traditional valve replacement. This new less-invasive method may prove to be a viable option for these patients.

Valves are delicate flaps that regulate blood flow in the heart and prevent backflow. When disease sets in, calcium deposits harden the valves and prevent them from working properly. The new method of valve replacement allows doctors to avoid the cutting out and sewing in of traditional heart surgery and instead simply prop open the diseased valve and wedge the artificial valves into the space.

So far some of the surgeries have proven problematic. When doctors used a leg vein (rather than an artery) to coax the new valve into place, they sometimes damaged another valve. Four of the first seven American patients died after receiving the surgery using the leg vein. Only one patient has died out of the twelve that received the valve through the leg artery.

This new surgery is not available to patients yet and its use in patients healthy enough for open heart surgery is still being debated. So far the first patients in the studies have survived with the new valves for two years but long-term success is still unknown.

Source:
Yahoo! News. Neergaard, Lauran. "Closed-Heart a Less-Invasive Alternative." 1 April 2006

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