The Mater Hospital in Dublin has described as a “major advancement in cardiac care” a new procedure it can now carry out for patients who are considered too high-risk for conventional open-heart surgery.
The procedure, a percutaneous mitral valve replacement, involves inserting a new mitral valve through a catheter tube through a vein in the groin.
The operation is less invasive than typical heart surgery where the chest has to be opened through the breast bone.
As well as being less invasive, medical experts say it also has a significantly shorter recovery time.
The hospital has said that for some patients with mitral valve disease whose overall health means conventional surgery would carry a high level of risk, it offers a route to treatment where previously there was none.
The Mater has carried out five such procedures since it began them last May.
One of those who has benefited is Derek Toomey from Finglas in Dublin. In 2023, he was diagnosed with a severely narrowed, calcified mitral valve.
He had been suffering from low energy, and loss of breath, with the simplest of tasks becoming a challenge.
The Mater Hospital has carried out five such procedures since it began them last May
“I couldn’t do a full set of stairs without stopping,” he said.
“Getting dressed in the morning, putting socks on, bending down trying to tie up shoelaces … I couldn’t breathe. It was ridiculous,” he said.
The 62-year-old was told a conventional operation carried too great a risk due to severe underlying lung disease.
Life carried on, until three months ago, when he was contacted by the Mater and offered the procedure, which he underwent in June.
The operation a success, he says that within three days he was walking around the hospital without stopping.
“The transformation has been like black and white,” he said.
It has given him a new lease of life and he has returned to work.
“I can now walk as far as I want to walk. The only side effect at the moment is tiredness, but that is because I didn’t do anything for seven weeks.”
Professor Ivan Casserly, who leads the multidisciplinary team at the Mater, said the procedure marks a significant step in cardiac care here.
“Until now, patients with significant mitral valve disease who weren’t well enough for open-heart surgery had very few options left to them,” he said.
“This procedure gives us a new way to treat the condition without opening the chest and for patients it means a much faster recovery, being back on their feet within days rather than months.”