Bionic valve could save heart patients from major surgery

Patients with debilitating heart disease can recover from major surgery with a bionic valve implant.

The tiny device, which can be inserted under local anesthesia in less than an hour, is designed to treat aortic valve insufficiency, a condition that deprives the body of oxygen-rich blood and leaves patients tired and breathless.

The problem occurs when the aortic valve, which is the valve at the exit of the heart, is damaged and does not close completely. This allows blood to flow back to the heart and affects its efficient pumping ability.

It is more common in elderly patients and those with high blood pressure. Damage can also be caused by infections.

Up to five percent of the population suffers from aortic valve regurgitation, and about one in 20 experiences severe symptoms. In these cases, the only option is open heart surgery, which involves opening the patient’s chest, placing the heart in a bypass, and replacing the valve.

However, many patients are too weak to withstand this major surgery. Also, to date, there is no valve implant specifically designed for aortic valve regurgitation: surgeons have used implants designed to treat other forms of valve disease that tend to separate.

The new bionic JenaValve Trilogy implant with a metal frame and a pig valve can be inserted during a minimally invasive procedure that takes less than an hour. “This has never happened before,” says cardiologist Professor Andreas Baumbach, who led the team that pioneered the device at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

“The JenaValve Trilogy will make a huge difference. Currently, the first hundreds of patients have been treated and there is a success rate of close to 100 percent.’

During surgery to implant the JenaValve Triad, a small incision is made in the femoral artery in the groin: an anesthetic is used to numb the area, but patients are fully awake.

A thin, flexible tube called a catheter is then inserted into the artery and passed through the body to the heart, where surgeons use an X-ray machine to see what they’re doing in real time. Consisting of a collapsible metal tubular frame, the JenaValve is passed through the catheter. At first it bends, but opens after the surgeon confirms it is in the right place.

The visor is fully open and measures approximately 2.5 cm in diameter, but can be sized in the field for a perfect fit. Three small legs – “like the legs of the lunar module,” said prof. Baumbach – they block it in the natural aortic valve and it immediately starts working.

The catheter is then removed, the incision is sutured, and patients can go home after a day or two.

One of the first to benefit from the new procedure in the UK was Ronald Pavett, 86, a retired Royal Mail employee from Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

He said: “Even opening a bottle of water left me completely exhausted and out of breath. My breathing was really bad. If I had to climb stairs, I’d be on all fours and could only wear loafers because bending over to tie my shoes was making me totally bloated. I loved to ride my bike but had to stop. ‘

First diagnosed in 2019, Mr. Pavett underwent another type of valve replacement and a pacemaker, both of which did not help significantly and his future looked bleak. “At that point I thought it was the end of the road,” admitted his married grandfather with two children.

“After the first valve change didn’t work, I thought I wouldn’t stay long. But then my advisor told me that I could benefit from this new procedure.

He put on the JenaValve last month and started feeling better almost instantly.

“The surgery itself was completely painless – I didn’t feel anything. Within a few days I was on my feet and noticed many improvements.

“In the past, my breathing problems kept me awake, but now I sleep well and no longer feel bloated when talking. I used to answer everything with one word to save my breath, but now I can chat with people again.

‘I’m walking again, a little further each day, and I hope to be back on my bike soon. I think this herb is the next best thing to sliced ​​bread.

Strange science: the anesthetic that makes urine green

A woman undergoing weight loss surgery in India woke up with an unexpected side effect of general anesthesia: her urine had turned green.

Doctors initially feared a serious urinary tract infection, but tests came back clear and all other vital signs, the 62-year-old from New Delhi, were normal.

A 62-year-old woman who had weight loss surgery in India woke up with an unexpected side effect of general anesthesia: her urine had turned green.

Upon further investigation, the doctors found that the most likely cause was the anesthetic propofol, according to their findings in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research.

In less than one percent of cases, green urine is a harmless side effect. After 12 hours, the woman’s urine returned to its normal color.

your gorgeous body

When most people squeeze their thumb and little finger together, a tendon protrudes inside the wrist. But 15% of people don’t, because they don’t have long palmar muscles that run from the hand to the elbow.

The absence of one does not affect the strength of the grip, but reduces the strength of the fourth and fifth fingers.

Muscle may have helped our ape ancestors shake trees, but as humans evolved to walk on all fours, it went out of fashion. Scientists say it may one day disappear completely from humans.