Cardiac surgeons in global study to assess heart bypass technique
CARDIAC SURGEONS will take part in a global study to assess the effectiveness of a heart bypass technique used at only two UK hospitals.
A surgical team at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust will work with colleagues in Greece, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, France and Israel to see how the technique helps heart patients.
Known as minimally invasive extracorporeal circulation (MIECC), the method is designed to minimise the risk of harm to patients when the heart is stopped temporarily in order for life-saving surgery to be carried out.
In the UK the technique is currently used only at Hull and Plymouth. Medics taking part in the trial will examine how the technique affects 3,500 patients over the next three years.
Lindsay McLean, a heart surgery scientist at the Hull trust, based at Castle Hill Hospital, said: “We are the only trust in the UK apart from Plymouth to use this mini-bypass technique.
“Of our five cardiac surgeons, four of them use the technique.
“Despite producing great results for our patients, it is still not widely accepted that this is a better way of bypass, with less impact on people than the conventional method of heart bypass.
“Taking part in this study with other teams across the world will allow us to collate a huge volume of evidence so we have a clear picture of the benefits.”
Most hospitals in the country use the conventional cardiopulmonary (CPB) bypass to halt the patient’s heart.
However, CPB can trigger severe inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), a life-threatening condition similar to sepsis, in some patients when their blood comes into contact with foreign bodies during surgery.
MIECC minimizes side effects and reduce the need for donor blood, meaning the patient has an improved chance of a faster recovery from surgery. Hull staff were invited to present two masterclasses in the technique by Heart Research UK last year.
Mr McLean added: “This is a great opportunity for Hull to showcase our work in the field.
“We are helping to lead the way on techniques used during open heart surgery and that can only be good news for our patients now and those who will come to us in the future.”