History was made at Mediclinic Panorama on 5 January 2013, when a team of doctors performed the world’s first non-surgical closure of a leaking heart valve on a patient with a transposed heart.
The illustration below indicates how the catheter (thin tube) is inserted in the groin and fed through a vein into the right atrium. From here a needle puncture is made to the left atrium and this tube is fed up to the leaking valve. The zoomed in area indicates how the two devices were positioned next to the leaking valve. It is important to note that this illustration reflects a heart in a normal orientation but that in Mrs Cronjé’s case it was a mirror-image (dextrocardia with situs inversus) as explained in the notes below.
Non-surgical cardiac valve repair
My cycling friend’s daughter who lives in CapeTown has just found out she has a hole in between the atria that should have closed after birth and I wondered if it ‘s possible for this to be successfully closed?
Regards,
Merrilyn
Merrilyn, Dr Weich says it’s possible if indicated, email us if you’d like contact details for your friend to speak to Dr Weich, he’ll gladly advise. Email to tereza.correia@mediclinic.co.za
This is soo fantastic! You go MediClinic! I’m proud to say that I Work 4 them!