A cardiovascular surgery team from Saint-Etienne University Hospital carried out a total replacement operation of a aortic valve without opening the patient’s chest: a world first. Until now, surgeons have been forced to open the thorax of patients, spread their ribs and fracture their sternum to replace the aortic valve and allow blood to circulate well.
This new technique, performed by endoscopy, is less invasive and less painful. It avoids significant scars, lasts less and allows a shorter hospital stay. Concretely, the doctors introduce surgical instruments, the new valve and optical fibers through micro-incisions of a few millimeters on the patient’s torso.
Five operated patients
“The new, completely endoscopic approach opens up interesting prospects for postoperative recovery, because it reduces surgical trauma to the chest wall, while allowing good control of the surgical procedure”, assures the Saint-Etienne CHU team. .
The operation, which requires a lot of training on the part of surgeons, anesthetists and cardiologists, can only be performed on certain patients, selected for their anatomy. In total, five people have benefited from this medical feat. “The future of this approach to aortic valve replacement is closely linked to the development of dedicated technical platforms, as for all innovative activities, but also to the training of a multidisciplinary operating team” recalls doctor Marco Vola, surgeon cardiac at the CHU of Saint-Etienne which developed the technique.
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