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Last Of Five Heart Operations Completed
Last Of Five Heart Operations Completed
Doctors at Waikato
Hospital completed the last of five transcatheter
aortic
valve implementations just over an hour ago.
Dr Sanjeevan
Pasupati, one of a few cardiologists in the world
with
experience in this procedure, said the three
operations today and the
two yesterday all went well.
They are the first to be done in a New
Zealand public
hospital.
Ramona Johnson, 79, of Tauranga was the first to
undergo the procedure
yesterday morning and this
afternoon was up and walking the ward at
Waikato
Hospital's cardiac care unit.
She is expected to return home on Monday.
The operations are only possible thanks to
the generosity of the
Waikato Heart Trust and a private
benefactor who gifted more than
$300,000 to cover the
cost of the valves for the procedures.
More than 120
people a year present at Waikato Hospital with
aortic
stenosis, a condition where the main outflow valve
from the heart
thickens and does not open
fully.
Replacement of the valve is via the leg, and
involves inserting a new
valve inside the old aortic
valve. The patient only requires a local
anaesthetic, and
the recovery time is much shorter than for
open-heart
surgery.
With aortic stenosis, all the
blood leaving the heart has to go through
the main
outflow valve and severe narrowing of the valve
causes
restricted blood flow to the rest of the
body.
Restricted blood flow puts a strain on the heart and
eventually causes
breathlessness, chest pain, blackouts
and heart failure.
Once patients notice symptoms, about
50 per cent of patients with
aortic stenosis die within
two years. In comparison 50 per cent of
cancer patients
will die within five years.
Only about 2000 transcatheter
aortic valve implementations have
occurred worldwide and
all in the northern hemisphere.
Waikato Hospital head of
medicine Dr Clyde Wade said the Waikato Heart
Trust
promised to provide support for the transcatheter aortic
valve
implantation procedure which resulted in the
appointment of Dr
Pasupati.
The former Te Kuiti High
School dux regularly fields job offers from
around the
world but chose to stay in the Waikato.
http://www.waikatodhb.govt.nz/news/pageid/2145840960/Te_Kuiti_doctor_a_world-beater
"We
face intense international competition for highly skilled
health
professionals," said Dr Wade.
"We cannot compete
internationally on salaries but knowing I have
the
backing of the Waikato Heart Trust, I can assure
prospective employees
that we will be able to provide the
cutting edge equitment that they
need to ply their
trade."
The patients include two other 79-year-olds; one
from Otorohanga and
the other from Tokoroa, a 60-year-old
Gisborne man and a 91-year-old
Hamilton woman.
Dr
Pasupati is available for interviews. Please register your
interest
with me by
email.
ends
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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