Kraków hospital carries out Poland’s largest child heart implant
Credit: Fotolia
Surgeons have carried out the largest child heart implant to ever take place in Poland.
Doctors at the University Children's Hospital in Kraków-Prokocim filled a 7-8mm defect in the 17-year-old patient’s heart after discovering he was suffering from a ventricular defect.
Dr. Piotr Weryński, head of the Department of Cardiology at the hospital said: “It is very heart-friendly. Larger implants have been implanted, but in adults.
“Such a large intraventricular defect in such a patient would be surgically closed and in principle in every centre such a patient would be qualified for surgical treatment.”
In order to carry our the implant, doctors punctured the patient's vein and artery and inserted a special catheter. The catheter contained an implant in the form of a long thread from a special metal alloy. This material had a programmed memory of the shape and size that it would eventually take in the heart.
The operation was carried out in early July and after a three-day stay in hospital, the patient was discharged.
Dr. Weryński said: “Intraventricular defect causes some of the blood to escape from the left ventricle and flow into the pulmonary circulation instead of the aorta and systemic circulation.
“Because of this defect, the heart would get tired faster, the reserves supposed to last for many years were being depleted. It was a huge defect, which has now been tightly closed.”
Symptoms of intraventricular defect in a child include faster fatigue and worse exercise tolerance. The recovery period after the surgery is minimal, the effects of the surgery become visible quickly. (PAP)
Author: Beata Kołodziej
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