New sutureless valve to treat aortic stenosis
Written by:The aortic valve is one of the four valves in the heart there. When the heart beats, this valve must be opened properly so that blood flow throughout the body.
Aortic stenosis, severe obstruction of this valve, it is very common in elderly patients. It has a poor prognosis with medical treatment, with an estimated mortality of 25% per year and 50% at two years of the onset of symptoms.
Over the past 40 years, cardiac surgery , valvular has shown very satisfactory results both short and long term, even in very old patients. Still, up to 30% of patients affected by this disease have never been referred for surgical treatment. In most cases because your doctor believes the risk is too high for conventional surgery. These patients are very important factors, such as kidney failure, strokes or previous reoperations, and also are in a situation of significant "fragility" risk.
To provide the best treatment option, it is very important to conduct a full and individual evaluation of each patient (comorbidity, adaptability, degree of dependence) by a multidisciplinary group (heart-team).
The new treatment with transcatheter heart valves (Tavis) is an alternative to conventional surgery in high risk patients. The results have been good, but some important questions remain as increased neurological complications, the persistence of significant Paravalvular leakage, vascular complications and the high cost of these prostheses resolved.
Sutureless valves (sutureless) have appeared as an alternative to conventional valves and valves transcatheter. Allow to operate safely and with very good results to patients at high risk. The process is faster because less time is spent in surgery, safer (direct vision, resection of pathological native valve) and less surgical aggression thanks to the mini-incisions.
Currently there is a long experience of over nine years of follow-up with more than 20,000 sutureless aortic prosthesis implanted in Europe with excellent results. The group of Dr. Ruyra Baliarda pioneered these new techniques in Spain and has the most experience in the country with more than 300 cases in the last five years.
Edited by Pino Noelia
