Doctors of patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation now have an option other than open heart surgery for their critical patients in TT.
The Advanced Cardiovascular Institute (ACI) has assembled a multi-disciplinary team who have successfully done minimally invasive, non-surgical heart procedures to treat valve disease and to review candidates.
Managing director at ACI and MRI of TT Christopher Camacho was happy to know patents no longer had to travel abroad to have caval valve implantation (CAVI), a minimally invasive procedure to treat severe tricuspid regurgitation, as a successful procedure was recently done in TT.
“This is personal to me because my mom passed from valve disease. I saw a patient who was very close to me while I am in the cardiac arena – I know surgeons nationally and internationally – and yet there was no option for her because no surgical option was available. She could not have her valve replaced.
[caption id="attachment_964218" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Christopher Camacho, managing director of the Advanced Cardiovascular Institute, feels proud that non-surgical heart procedures can be done in TT. - JEFF K MAYERS[/caption]
“So seeing how we are maturing to where more and more patients like my mom now have an option here in Trinidad is important. It’s gratifying to me to see us make that step forward as a society.”
The breakthrough procedure was successfully performed for the first time in TT and the Caribbean region on November 30, 2021 at West Shore Private Hospital. The medical team was led by interventional cardiologist, and founder and executive chairman of Cardiovascular Associates Ltd, Dr Ronald Henry; and included professor Dr Prashant Vaijyanath, a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon from India who was trained by the manufacturers of the CAVI device; anaesthesiologist Dr Sheldon Olton and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Wazir Mohammed.
It was done on a patient suffering from severe tricuspid regurgitation – a leaking heart valve condition associated with severe heart failure – and the patient was showing a promising outcome after six months of medical follow-ups.
The CAVI procedure involves the implantation of two valves through a small cut in the patient’s upper thigh. They are deployed using catheters and guidewires under X-ray guidance, all conducted in a special procedural room called a catheterization laboratory.
Camacho explained with age or because of different diseases, some people suffered from valvular disease. Valves in the heart make sure blood flows on one direction and at the right time. These valves can either start to leak so that blood goes in the wrong direction, or do not open well so there is less blood flow.
Tricuspid regurgitation is a condition which causes the blood to flow backwards in the upper chamber of the heart (right atrium) when the lower chamber (right ventricle) contracts. This leads to recurrent right heart failure, excessive abdominal swelling, liver congestion, swollen feet, digestive problems and chronic fatigue.
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