For Immediate Release: July 24, 2008
Contact: Erica Neufeld (703) 280-5858
Aortic Valve Surgery Goes Minimally Invasive
Valve Replacement Surgery is the Latest Heart Operation Performed with a Small Incision
FALLS CHURCH, VA – Patients who once had to endure having their breast bone broken, long incisions and painful recoveries can now have a faulty aortic valve replaced through an incision less than four inches long. Cardiac surgeons at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute are among the first in the country to perform this operation which is less painful for the patient and may shorten the patient’s hospital stay.
To replace the aortic valve minimally invasively, the surgeon makes an incision between six and ten centimeters in length as a partial sternotomy or a mini-thoracotomy, depending on the patient’s anatomy. The surgery is then performed in the same manner it would be with a traditional incision. Minimally invasive valve repair can be performed because new instruments allow surgeons complete access and visibility to the valve through a smaller incision.
“For appropriate patients, minimally invasive surgery is advantageous for several reasons,” says Alan Speir, MD, chief of cardiac surgery at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute. “A smaller incision means the patient heals faster and with less pain because the breast bone was not broken. Further, there is less tissue damage, less blood loss and potentially shorter time on the ventilator and a shortened hospital stay with this type of surgery.” All of these factors result in a faster recovery and quicker return to the patient’s normal quality of life.
The aortic valve releases oxygenated blood to the body. Aortic valves typically need to be replaced rather than repaired because of the disease process. There are two types of valves available to take the place of the patient’s aortic valve: mechanical and tissue. Mechanical valves are made of titanium and contain no natural tissues whereas tissue valves are porcine or bovine and may contain a titanium supporting stent, or ring. Because replacement valves are made from or contain artificial material, patients receiving a mechanical valve must take anticoagulant medication to prevent clots from forming. Clots can lead to heart attack or stroke.
The newest type of valve is a stentless tissue valve which contains no titanium. Anthony Rongione, MD a surgeon at Inova Heart and Vascular Institute says “this valve is advantageous in younger, active patients who do not want to take the blooding thinning medications required for the other valve types in order to prevent clotting.”
In the last ten years minimally invasive cardiac surgery has progressed so well that many patients undergoing cardiac surgery have non-traditional options. At Inova, surgeons have been performing minimally invasive mitral valve and atrial fibrillation surgery since 1997 and 2005 respectively. “The advent of the minimally invasive aortic valve replacement takes us one step further in performing bigger operations through smaller incisions because in this instance we are not just repairing the body but we are taking out the diseased mechanism and replacing it with a new one,” said Dr. Speir.
Not all patients are candidates for minimally invasive valve replacement surgery. For example, patients undergoing concomitant cardiac procedures will require traditional open chest surgery.
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Cardiac, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery Associates (CVTSA) is a private practice founded 30 years ago and maintains today the same principles upon which the group was built: compassion, innovation and excellence. All 17 of our Board-Certified surgeons are experts in their areas and rank among the top physicians in Northern Virginia and in the country. Working closely together with referring physicians and award-winning hospitals, we are proud to offer the best medicine has to offer for adult cardiac, pediatric cardiac, vascular and thoracic care.
