Two patients about to have operations at Waikato Hospital will be the first in the southern hemisphere to have aortic valve replacements done through a small incision in the chest.
The operations on an 86-year-old Otorohanga woman and a 77-year-old Thames man will take place on Wednesday.
Leading the surgery will be cardiothoracic surgeon Nand Kejriwal and cardiologist Sanjeevan Pasupati under the watchful eye of a Canadian cardiac surgeon.
"This gives another option for patients who have poor vascular access and suffer from severe aortic stenosis and are considered high risk for surgery," Dr Pasupati said.
Aortic stenosis is the most prevalent heart valve disease in the western world.
It is a condition where the main outflow valve from the heart thickens and does not open fully. As all the blood leaving the heart has to go through this valve, severe narrowing of the valve causes restricted blood flow to the rest of the body.
Restricted blood flow puts a strain on the heart and eventually causes breathlessness, chest pain, blackouts, and heart failure.
source:nzpa
No comments:
Post a Comment