SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Cardiac surgeons from the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Canarias (HUC) have performed the first interventions in the Canary Islands to repair the aortic valve by implanting a ring to adjust the circumference around said valve, which is called HAART aortic annuloplasty.
In this way, the damaged or affected aortic valve is repaired without the need to replace it with a prosthesis, thus avoiding the risk of complications from infections or thrombi, offering greater safety for the patient.
“Repairing this aortic insufficiency without placing a prosthesis can have a great advantage in the follow-up of this lesion”, point out the HUC cardiac surgeons in a note sent by the Canary Islands Government Department of Health.
Up to now, three aortic valve repair interventions have been carried out implanting this new device and the patients are progressing favorably.
The aortic valve is one of the four valves that control blood flow in the heart, separating the left lower heart chamber, the left ventricle, and the aorta, the main artery of the body.
When the heart compresses (contracts), the aortic valve opens, allowing blood to flow from the left ventricle into the aorta, and when the heart relaxes, the aortic valve closes, preventing blood from flowing backward.
An aortic valve damaged or affected by the disease can interfere with blood flow and force the heart to make a greater effort to send blood to the rest of the body, they point out from the Ministry.
In addition, aortic valve repair or replacement can improve blood flow, reduce symptoms of heart valve disease, and prolong life.
The design of the HAART aortic annuloplasty device is based on extensive analysis of CT angiogram data and reproduces the complex three-dimensional anatomy of the aortic valve root.
The HUC is the third pioneer hospital in Spain to implant this device in the field of combined mitral and aortic repair surgery and in the treatment of severe aortic regurgitation, after the Son Espases hospitals in Palma de Mallorca and the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.
