Doing a heart valve implant without having to open the chest was something that could only have been dreamt about some years ago, but this year Mater Dei Hospital cardiologists achieved just this dream, Health Minister Joe Cassar has said, praising the progress being made at the state hospital.
Speaking at a press conference in which he gave an overview of new services that came on stream in 2010, Dr Cassar said local services were improving with technological advances that were making the treatment of serious ailments easier.
Through the new heart procedure, replacing a heart valve does not require opening the rib cage wide open anymore.
Instead, a simple incision of not more than an inch – at the top of the thigh – allows cardiologists to insert a new valve which then travels to the heart and lodges in place on top of the old one.
Dr Cassar also announced that, by December, new treatments would be offered to treat liver cancer more effectively. Also by Christmas, Mater Dei will start offering bone anchored hearing aids – a specialised device for people who cannot wear a regular hearing aid. The latter complements cochlear implants, which were introduced this year giving back hearing even to people who were completely deaf.
“Brain pacemakers”, devices that stimulate selected regions of the brain for treatment of chronic pain and Parkinson’s disease, are also in the pipeline.
Earlier this year, local dentistry specialists were assisted during jaw surgery by a consultant from London, while some liver patients were seen in outpatients by a specialist from King’s College Hospital, Dr Cassar said.