The City Cardiac Center in Almaty has introduced a minimally invasive technique for treating the mitral valve. The new method allows complex procedures to be performed on patients for whom repeat open-heart surgery could carry a high risk, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the Ministry of Health, a master class was held at the cardiac center with the participation of experienced specialists from the UMC Heart Center. The doctors joined forces to help patients with complex medical histories — specifically, people who had previously undergone open-chest surgery.
In particular, the doctors performed a hybrid operation. They implanted a new heart valve without opening the chest. The surgeons accessed the heart through a small incision between the ribs.
A 74-year-old female pensioner successfully underwent the procedure. Because of her age, conventional open surgery posed too high a risk, so the minimally traumatic method became the optimal solution, avoiding a repeat sternotomy (incision of the chest — Kursiv).
The Almaty cardiac center reportedly plans to adopt this method in its regular practice for treating complex patients. The advantage of such gentle operations is minimal trauma, and patients recover faster after these procedures.
Kursiv previously reported that four patients underwent minimally invasive mitral valve reconstruction surgery at the Research Institute of Cardiology and Internal Diseases.