The University Hospital Zurich is the first hospital in Switzerland to use mitral valves with anti-calcification treatment. Protection against calcification leads to fewer reoperations and makes it possible to dispense with blood-thinning medication.
In patients whose heart failure was caused by calcification of the heart valves, deposits often form on the artificial heart valves over time. Open surgery is usually necessary to replace or repair the calcified valve.
In the case of aortic valves, anti-calcifying treatment of the valve tissue has proven effective in protecting against deposits. Recently, the procedure has also been used for mitral valves. Mitral valves treated in this way are characterized above all by a longer service life. At the same time, the heart valve is designed in such a way that it can be repaired. Thanks to these new heart valves, many patients can avoid a stressful reoperation. Another advantage of the calcification-resistant heart valve is that there is no need for blood-thinning medication.
The new mitral valves expand the choice of heart valves; this represents a massive step forward in treatment, particularly for the two patient groups of younger patients who require a first mitral valve and patients over 70 years of age whose heart valve needs to be replaced.
Two different models have been used at the University Hospital Zurich to date; at the beginning of the year, the first of the heart valves in Switzerland was implanted minimally invasively in a patient suffering from severe mitral valve insufficiency due to mitral valve endocarditis. At the beginning of March, the second model was used for the first time in Europe on another patient.