Cardiac surgeons from the University Children’s Hospital (UCH) in Kraków-Prokocim have been among the first in the world to implant a polymeric valve in the heart of a 3-year old boy.
The implant is aimed to enable the development of the patient’s own tissue and then biodegrade. The doctors believe that the newly developed valve will grow together with the boy’s heart.
“We are implanting a kind of frame on which the child’s own valve will grow - this is the novelty” – explains Dr hab. Tomasz Mroczek, a cardiac surgeon from the University Children’s Hospital, deputy head of the Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery.
The three year old, named Filip, was born with a pulmonary atresia, a defect in which the flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery is completely blocked. He was first operated on when he was only 8 days old. The second surgery was performed at the age of 2.5. In spite of this, Filip got tired easily and often turned blue. “Now, after the implantation of the new valve Filip feels much better. He is a lively, cheerful child and does not need to use oxygen concentrator”, says the boy’s mother.
The valve implantation was performed within the framework of a pilot research programme approved by the Bioethics Committee. The preparations took almost 2 years. The innovative valve was produced by a Swiss-Dutch company and offered to physicians from Kraków and Budapest, who were to be the first in the world to use it.
“In such cases, we usually implant biological material similar to the patient’s natural tissue. It is either a properly prepared tissue from a dead person or an animal’s tissue. These are tested high-quality valves, but their disadvantage is that they do not grow with the patient. After several years additional surgeries are needed” – explains Prof. Janusz Skalski, head of the Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery at the UCH.
The vavle was implanted on August 11. Similar operations are planned in the weeks to follow.
“Such innovative surgeries can be performed in our hospital thanks to the expertise and professionalism of the staff. I mean not only the doctors, but also nurses and perfusionists. This is teamwork” – stresses Andrzej Blaga, the UCH director for medical services.
