An alternative to open-heart surgery has arrived from France to Mexico.
“I now feel stronger, a lot more”, stated Earl Jean Brassard, an 88 year-old Canadian whose life changed after undergoing a Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Implantation (TAVI).
Earl Jean suffered from severe aortic stenosis, which prevented the blood from circulating freely from the heart to the aorta resulting in severe respiratory problems and heart conditions. “Before the surgery I suffered from extreme weakness”, said Earl Brassard.
On Thursday, June 4, 2015, the first TAVI was performed at Hospital San Javier by an interventional cardiologist, Dr. Ricardo Garcia, who has had more than four years of intensive training at specialized hospitals.
The procedure lasted about 120 minutes, “My life changed in two hours, it has even been saved”, states Earl Jean.
TAVI is a procedure which, in some cases, replaces open-heart surgery; it is a minimally-invasive percutaneous operation accessing the heart through the femoral artery and removing the damaged valve blockage.
The procedure was first performed in 2002 at Rouen, France, where a group of physicians discovered that it would be feasible to apply biomedical technology to treat aortic stenosis, which is the narrowing of the valves, mainly occurring in patients over 65 years of age. This condition becomes critical unless it is promptly treated. The mortality rate is 50% with an approximate life span of two years once the symptoms become apparent. Given this, TAVI reverts the natural evolution of this condition and provides patients with a new life expectancy and recovery at intensive care within a short-stay period of time.
State-of-the-art facilities at Hospital San Javier, such as its Hemodynamics Room and a Coronary Intensive Care Area, along with a group of highly specialized interventional physicians, form a “Heart Team” whose purpose is that of treating high-specialty cardiovascular diseases. They are headed by Dr. Ricardo Garcia, who works hand in hand with Dr. Benigno Ferreira, Dr. Eduardo Bravo, Dr. Ramon Garcia, Dr. Carlos Brambila, among others, who are fully prepared to perform this procedure.
All of the above enables persons such as Earl Jean and other patients who are candidate to this treatment, to be submitted to this innovating medical procedure where the heart and biomedical technology merge together, as mentioned by Earl, “to save my life” and that of thousands of patients around the world, thanks to extraordinary scientific advances and medical technology that have placed Mexico and Hospital San Javier at the forefront as the venue to perform the TAVI procedure for new life expectancy, supported by a team of physicians specialized in interventional cardiology, which, thanks to their preparation and commitment have changed the life of Earl, who beat by beat has now a stronger heart.
Por: Lic. Edgar Angulo