Specialist heart surgeons in the UK have used an endoscope to perform an aortic valve replacement (AVR) for the first time, offering an alternative to invasive open-heart surgery.
Habib Khaan, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘This technique is used in very few NHS centres in the UK, particularly using an endoscope. Typically, we would offer traditional open-heart surgery to treat patients with heart valve disease.
‘However, in this case, our patient was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and we needed to find a way to treat her heart valve disease without affecting her recovery and healing from a recent mastectomy, at the same time avoiding an incision on the breastbone.
‘As the patient urgently needed surgery to replace her aortic valve, we used an endoscopic-assisted minimally invasive approach through her right chest, avoiding a large chest opening. This type of surgery offers quicker recovery times, less patient discomfort, and a lower risk of infection, all while achieving the same excellent outcomes.
‘We were able to remove her endotracheal tube safely immediately after surgery, and she continued to make an excellent recovery, allowing her to be discharged home just three days later to continue her recuperation.’
Mr Khan added: ‘This type of endoscopic-assisted surgery could be transformative for patients with heart valve disease, with the potential for a much smoother recovery. We hope this will be the first of many more patients to benefit from this innovative procedure at King’s.’
