New heart procedure at Mater a 'major advancement'

The Mater Hospital in Dublin has announced a major advancement in cardiac care with a new procedure available to patients considered too high-risk for conventional open-heart surgery. The percutaneous mitral valve replacement involves inserting a new mitral valve through a catheter tube inserted in the groin, making it less invasive than traditional heart surgery.

This procedure also results in a significantly shorter recovery time. The Mater has performed five such procedures since starting in May 2023. One patient, Derek Toomey from Finglas, Dublin, benefited from the new procedure. Diagnosed with a severely narrowed, calcified mitral valve in 2023, Toomey experienced low energy and shortness of breath, making simple tasks challenging.

With a conventional operation deemed too risky due to underlying lung disease, Toomey was offered the new procedure by the Mater in June 2024. After the successful surgery, he recovered quickly, walking around the hospital within three days. Professor Ivan Casserly, who leads the multidisciplinary team at the Mater, emphasized that this procedure offers a new way to treat mitral valve disease without opening the chest, providing a faster recovery for patients compared to traditional surgery.