IJN’s revolutionary implant

BIOABSORBABLE CONDUITS: First in Asia to implant valve conduits that dissolve

THE National Heart Institute (IJN) made history when it became the first heart centre in Asia to perform a bioabsorbable pulmonary valve (PV) conduit implant surgery on three patients.

The patients, aged 4, 6 and 8, each received the PV conduit, a polymer-made implant device used to reconstruct the right ventricular outflow.

The patients had malformations, such as pulmonary atresia, a condition where the pulmonary valve fails to develop or is closed completely.

As it is bioabsorbable, the PV conduit will dissolve as the patient’s natural cells develop. When the process is complete, no foreign material will be left in the body.

IJN chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub hoped this natural healing technique would be permanent. He said research was ongoing to find out how long this treatment could last.

“The long-term presence of foreign material in the body might trigger chronic inflammation that causes certain complications. Patients would then need to undergo multiple surgeries as they outgrow the device. This could cost the patients dearly,” he said yesterday.

Prior to the PV conduit, the supply of pulmonary valves was limited and depended on organ donors. Donors were mostly adults whose pulmonary valves were too big to be used on paediatric patients.

Bovine or porcine jugular veins were also used, but these had caused problems and did not last long.

IJN is looking at performing this surgery on two more patients next month.

The institute is the third centre in the world to perform this surgery. The others are in Budapest, Hungary, and Krakow, Poland.

Present at the press conference were cardiac surgeon from Krakow Dr Tomasz Mroczek, IJN senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Seri Dr Jeswant Dillon and consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Sivakumar Sivalingam.