The 78-year-old patient had a serious health condition, including two cardiac surgeries: coronary artery bypass grafting and bioprosthetic tricuspid valve implantation. She was included in a group of patients in whom conventional surgery was associated with a very high risk of death. The alternative treatment, an edge-to-edge procedure that involves bringing the valve leaflets together and "pinning" them together with a miniature clip, could not be performed because the patient has a bioprosthesis. The solution was to implant the TricValve system valves into the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava.
In preparation for the procedure, during a previous hospitalization, Prof. Marcin Grabowski's team implanted an electrodeless Micra AV pacemaker in the patient. The pivotal valve implantation procedure was performed by a team led by Professor Janusz Kochman.*
The surgery was performed without complications, the patient is being rehabilitated and slowly returns to normal functioning. The doctors hope the procedure will reduce symptoms of right heart failure such as swelling and ascites and minimize the risk of heart failure exacerbation and hospital readmissions. Tricuspid regurgitation is another valvular defect after aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation that can be treated with transcatheter techniques in everyday clinical practice.
*The team performing the implantation of the Micra AV pacemaker: Prof. Marcin Grabowski, Marcin Michalak, MD, PhD.
The composition of the valve implantation team: Prof. Janusz Kochman,;Adam Rdzanek, MD, PhD (operators); Piotr Scisło, MD, PhD; Agnieszka Kapłon-Cieślicka, MD, PhD, Radosław Piątkowski, MD, PhD, Monika Budnik, MD, PhD (echocardiography); Radosław Wilimski, MD, PhD (cardiac surgeon); dr. Bożena Witkowska, , dr. Janusz Wilczyński (anesthesiologists); Ewa Pędzich, MD, PhD(clinical care); nurse Renata Makowska, nurse Monika Cyran, nurse Ewa Liszewska, tech. Nikodem Wittbrodt, tech. Sławomir Dziewulski.
