[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] Jeonnam National University Hospital announced on the 24th that it has succeeded in performing the first Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implantation surgery in the Honam region.
The heart transplant team, led by Professors Kim Gye-hoon and Kim Hyung-yoon from the Department of Cardiology and Professors Jeong In-seok and Lee Gyo-seon from the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Jeonnam National University Hospital, performed LVAD implantation surgery on a male patient in his 60s, Mr. A, who had acute heart failure and was once in critical condition, on the 8th of last month, giving him a new lease on life.
Mr. A is currently recovering his health while undergoing rehabilitation treatment without any significant aftereffects.
LVAD implantation surgery is a highly complex procedure that involves installing an implantable artificial pump, the LVAD, which replaces the heart’s pumping function, into the left ventricle, which is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. This surgery is performed on patients waiting for a heart transplant or those who need a heart transplant but cannot use immunosuppressants.
The procedure involves creating an opening at the tip of the left ventricle to insert the LVAD device, which draws blood in and then pumps it into the aorta, ultimately assisting the function of the left ventricle.
Mr. A visited the emergency room last October complaining of chest pain. Upon arrival, the patient, whose heart function had rapidly deteriorated due to coronary artery occlusion, experienced cardiac arrest and received ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) treatment and emergency cardiovascular intervention.
During the subsequent two-month treatment period, he experienced two more cardiac arrests, reaching the worst-case scenario where further recovery of heart function was impossible.
Considering heart transplantation, the heart transplant team determined that due to the patient’s weakened physical condition and the risk of infection, immunosuppression required for heart transplantation was not feasible, and thus performed LVAD implantation surgery. The surgery was completed without major difficulties in 6 hours and 40 minutes.
With this, the Jeonnam National University Hospital heart transplant team once again demonstrated their outstanding medical expertise following the region’s first heart transplant surgery in Gwangju and Jeonnam in March 2018.
Furthermore, this has become an opportunity to deliver a message of hope for a new life to patients with end-stage heart failure who are waiting for heart transplantation or cannot even receive a heart transplant in the region.
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