Repair and replacement surgery of the aortic valve with a minithoracotomy and transcatheter approach
Repair and replacement surgery of the aortic valve with a minithoracotomy and transcatheter approach
Aortic valve disease (stenosis and/or regurgitation) is one of the most common diseases worldwide.
Our philosophy puts the patient at the centre of the treatment pathway, and our aim is to be able to offer each individual patient the best possible treatment, choosing from the many alternatives available, depending on the patient’s characteristics and risk profile.
At Monasterio, the right minithoracotomy was developed and perfected as the approach of choice in the case of isolated aortic valve disease.
Through a small incision, an aortic valve replacement can be performed, either with a biological or mechanical prosthesis. The reduced size of the incision offers the benefits already highlighted for all minimally invasive surgery, with significant advantages for the patient in terms of reduced pain and possible post-surgical complications, with a rapid return to a normal lifestyle and, ultimately, an aesthetic benefit.
Our Centre has world-recognised experience in the implantation of sutureless and fast deployment, aortic valves, that is, tissue valves that do not require “traditional” sutures, thus facilitating minimally invasive approaches and shortening surgical times.
Another alternative, which is reserved for patients selected on the basis of characteristics that determine their risk profile, is transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
In this type of approach, the patient is spared the opening of the chest and extracorporeal circulation (so-called “open-heart surgery”), and the valve disease is treated using technology developed in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Using catheters that are introduced through arteries of the appropriate calibre (trans-femoral or trans-subclavian approach), or through a small left thoracotomy (transapical approach), patients selected for this treatment are evaluated in a dedicated joint outpatient clinic, where the professionals involved in the delicate treatment pathway work together: the clinical cardiologist, the haemodynamics specialist and the cardiac surgeon.
Our mission believes in and promotes innovation and research in order to be able to acquire, promote and develop new technologies to offer the best and most advanced therapeutic solutions available on the world scene, including in the treatment of aortic valve disease.
