First transcatheter aortic valve implantation through thigh vascular puncture performed at University Clinic

There are a number of diseases that can lead to serious changes in the anatomy of the heart valves. Often it is degenerative calcinosis in elderly people, valve lesions due to rheumatism and bacterial destruction. Impaired valve function can be manifested by shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, and palpitations. The most effective method of treatment in this situation is usually surgical valve replacement with a prosthesis.

Currently, in addition to the traditional way of performing the operation on a stopped heart through a sternum dissection using a heart-lung machine, it can be performed through catheters inserted into the femoral vessels. This type of surgery can be performed even under local anesthesia, since it does not require wide surgical access and is performed on a working heart.

“About five years ago, we performed a series of TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation) surgeries using a small thoracic incision in one of the intercostal spaces. An entirely different approach was demonstrated today. A valve of similar design was installed through a femoral vascular puncture. Such technology is quite widely used abroad, and in recent years, there has been a tendency to increase the number of such operations in Russia. The peculiarity of the performed operation is that it is the first one for the University Clinic. Besides, for the first time in Tatarstan, a domestically produced prosthesis was used,” says Head of Cardiac Surgery at the University Clinic Daniyar Khaziakhmetov.

The surgery was a master class by Timur Imaev, Head of the Laboratory of Hybrid Treatments of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Myasnikov Institute of Clinical Cardiology. A prosthesis produced by Medinzh (located in Penza, Russia) was used.

“The Russian system of transfemoral valve delivery allows patients to be operated on in the same way as it is done all over the world. This method is less traumatic, and currently 95 percent of patients worldwide are operated through the femoral artery. This technique is safer, more effective, allows us to operate with less blood loss, helps in more complex cases,” comments Imaev.

The 66-year-old female patient has been transferred from the ICU to a general care ward and is going to be discharged soon.