Last Sunday a Transapical Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation was performed for the first time in the Algarve.
According to Prof. José Baptista Coordinator of the Cardiovascular Intervention Unit of the HPA Health Group "this was the only access route possible to carry out the procedure. It was a complex and serious situation. If we had not decided on this possibility, the survival rate of this English patient would certainly and very soon be committed. "
"Up to now, this technique had only been carried out via the femoral approach. However, in this case this approach was unfeasible, as we found an important calcification in the pathway to the aortic valve, "says Prof. Baptista.
"When there is no access route to access the heart valve in a minimally invasive way, the solution is to make a small incision about 4 cm below the breast, entering the heart directly through the apex. This intervention requires a great coordination between the team of cardiac surgeons and the team of interventional cardiologists, the specialist that make up the Heart Team ", underlines Prof. José Baptista.
Percutaneous Aortic Valve Implantation has revolutionized the approach of Aortic Stenosis by providing (non-surgical) replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis, inoperable or at very high risk for open heart surgery. Aortic stenosis is one of the most common diseases in the elderly population, accounting for 40% of all valvulopathies diagnosed. In Portugal it is estimated that this condition affects more than 30,000 people, a number that will tend to increase according to the predictability on population aging.
Despite the complexity of the intervention, this was a great success, maintaining the Hospital Particular do Algarve as one of the references of Interventional Cardiology in the national panorama of private health.
16, March 2017