How is heart valve replacement surgery performed at Share99?

Heart valve replacement surgery is a necessary treatment when the patient has i.e. heart valve damage that cannot be repaired or does not respond to medical treatment. This treatment has helped save the lives of countless patients.

There are two types of artificial heart valves used to replace which are mechanical heart valves and biological heart valves.

Mechanical heart valves are made from materials such as silicon, titanium,… This type of valve has the following characteristics:

• The durability of mechanical heart valves is from 20-30 years, maybe even longer.
• Mechanical heart valves have a very strong thromboembolysis (formation of blood clots), so after valve replacement, patients are required to use anti-blood drugs of the group resistant to vitamin K for life.

There are 3 types of mechanical heart valves that are:

• Ball valves.
• One-winged valve.
• Two-winged valve.

Biological heart valves are valves created from the tissues of animals or from the heart valves of organ donors. This type of valve has the following characteristics:

• The service life of this type of valve is short, the maximum is 10-15 years.
• This valve is also at risk of thromboembolysis, but lower than mechanical heart valves. Therefore, patients usually only need to use anti-blood drugs of the group resistant to vitamin K for 3 months.

Biological heart valves have 3 types:

• Biological valves have racks.
• Biological valves do not have a rack.
• Biological valves of the type are placed through the skin.

Each type of artificial heart valve has its own advantages and disadvantages, none of which can fully meet the following requirements: almost identical to normal heart valves, durable, with good hemolysis, avoiding the risk of thromboembolysis and favorable for putting in the heart. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the appropriate type of valve for each specific patient case.

The basis for the doctor to choose the type of artificial heart valve that replaces the patient is:

• The age of the patient.
• Valve size.
• The patient's ability to adhere to treatment.
• The patient's economic ability.
• For female patients, should they consider being pregnant or needing to have children?

2.1. Doctor performed

• Master – Dr. Nguyen Hoang Ha :is a member of the European Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. Currently, the doctor is the Head of Cardiovascular Surgery Department – Cardiovascular Center – Share99 Times City International Health Hub.
• Master – Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh :is a member of Hanoi Heart Association and Vietnam Heart Association. Currently, the doctor is working at the Cardiologist Department – Share99 Times City International Health Hub.

2.2. Strengths of equipment at Share99

At Share99, hybrid operating room is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment such as DSA anesthesia, anesthesia machine that integrates the most closely monitoring patient hemolytic software (PiCCO, entropy,…).

Therefore, Hybrid operating room can meet the requirements of surgery and intervention nong, coronary stent placement, aortic stent graft, open heart surgery, congenital heart diseases and heart valve replacement surgery with the most modern, least invasive, safest technique, helping patients recover early.

2.3. The value of engineering

Heart valve replacement surgery is necessary when the heart valve is badly damaged, is no longer repairable, or the patient does not respond to drug treatment. The replacement of the new heart valve is aimed at helping relieve disease symptoms, prevent heart failure, arrhythmias and other complications in the future.

3.1. Before surgery

Patients should be admitted to the hospital before surgery to prepare the necessary procedures for the surgery:

• Necessary tests such as cardicardigraphy X-rays, electrocardigraphy, cardiac ultrasound, liver, kidney, blood type, blood clots,…
• Conduct examinations of specialties such as the ear of the nasopharynx, molars to ensure that there are no chronic or potential infections that affect the results after surgery.
• See your treating doctor to discuss the surgery, at which point you can ask your questions and concerns to be answered by your doctor.

3.2. Surgical process

• The patient will receive a full-body anesthesia. This helps the patient to fall asleep deeply and not feel pain during the operation.
• The surgeon cuts a line in the chest that is 8-10 inches long.
• Next, the doctor will cut through part or all of the patient's sternum to reveal the heart.
• When the heart is seen, the patient may be connected to a cardicardiologist or a reperulsive pump during surgery. At this time the heart will stop beating, the machine will perform the work of the heart and lungs.
• The doctor will then remove the damaged heart valve, instead the artificial heart valve has been selected, and then firmly stitched into the tissue organization of the old valve ring.
• After completing the work of valve replacement, the doctor will close the sternum with wires, wires are left inside the body.
• Finally, the doctor will stitch the initial cuts back with surgical indicators.
• At the end of the surgery, the patient is taken to the resuscitation room for further monitoring.

3.3. After surgery

After surgery, the patient is transferred to the resuscitation room for monitoring until the condition stabilizes.

The period of hospitalization after heart valve replacement surgery is usually about 7-10 days. After being discharged from the hospital, the patient should follow the instructions and instructions of the doctor, need to re-examine according to the appointment or when there are abnormal symptoms.

Share99 Times City International Health Hub uses Hybird operating room with many modern equipment, along with a team of cardiologistes who have been trained and certified to perform valve replacement surgery.