A unique mitral valve surgery was performed in Lviv—the first of its kind in Ukraine
Cardiac surgeons at the Lviv National Medical University University Hospital performed a complex heart surgery on a 70-year-old resident of Krasne in the Lviv region. During the procedure, the doctors used the rare “Chimney” technique for mitral valve surgery for the first time in Ukraine.
The patient came to the hospital for a routine checkup of her pacemaker. During the examination, doctors discovered that she had severe mitral valve disease and massive calcification of the mitral annulus.
Due to the significant calcification, performing a standard operation was extremely difficult. According to the doctors, the conventional technique in this case could not ensure normal blood flow after the prosthesis was implanted.
Cardiac surgeon Professor Lyubomyr Kulik explained that the initial plan was to perform a standard procedure on the mitral valve.
“It was supposed to be a standard mitral valve surgery. However, the patient’s mitral valve was severely damaged, and the surrounding tissue was so heavily calcified that the opening for the new valve turned out to be very narrow. And a standard prosthesis of that size would have been too small to allow for adequate blood flow. After such an operation, the woman would have continued to experience shortness of breath and fatigue just as she did before. It was a real challenge for us,” noted Lyubomyr Kulik.
Standard methods were not suitable in this situation, so the team of cardiac surgeons decided to use the rare “Chimney” technique.
During the surgery, the doctors created a special structure to which a new valve had been sewn in advance.
The technique was named “Chimney” because the structure protrudes partially upward and resembles a chimney on a roof.
In Ukraine, this approach is sometimes used during aortic valve surgery, but this was the first time the technique had been applied to the mitral valve.
“We used the Chimney method, in which we place a structure into the mitral valve orifice where the valve is sutured to a vascular prosthesis to preserve blood flow. Similar techniques are sometimes used on the aortic valve, but for mitral valve disease in Ukraine, this is a unique precedent,” explained Lyubomyr Kulik.
The surgery was successful. After the procedure, the 70-year-old woman was kept in the hospital for an extended period so that medical staff could closely monitor her recovery.
Currently, the patient is feeling well and is already preparing to return home.
Following the treatment, the woman is breathing more easily and her heart function has been restored.
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