Surgeons at a Brighton hospital are to step up the number of heart operations that they carry out using a pioneering new procedure.
The successful operations so far have taken place at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, enabling patients to have life-saving surgery without having to travel to London or elsewhere.
The Brighton hospital is the first in the south east to win NHS funding for the “Pascal” procedure where surgeons repair a leaking heart valve.
It also means that patients can avoid the need for open-heart surgery which has involves higher risk, a longer stay in hospital and a longer recovery time.
David Hildick-Smith, the doctor who leads the team carrying out the procedures, said: “This has been the great success of the past year for us.
“There were only three trusts in the country – in London, in Bristol and in Manchester – where this procedure was available.
“Not many patients wanted to travel, even to London, to be assessed for it, because they are usually quite poorly.”
Professor Hildick-Smith and his team at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust have since carried out about 20 of the operations and expect to perform up to 50 a year.
Previously, the “Pascal” procedure was available only in London, Bristol and Manchester.
The operation to repair the leaking mitral valve is similar to the procedure for a mitral valve replacement – and last year the trust became the first in Britain to perform this surgery when patient Ron Thompson had a successful operation.
Surgeons carrying out the replacement valve procedure make a tiny incision in the groin and thread the new valve up through the body to the heart where they replace the leaking valve.
The operation is less invasive, quicker to complete, reduces the patient’s stay in hospital by several days and means a faster recovery at home.
But patients have to be an exact fit to have the replacement valve operation and few people qualify.
This is why it was important to start carrying out mitral valve repairs so that many more patients could benefit.
Professor Hildick-Smith said: “The mitral valve replacement was ground-breaking. However, there are so many patients who do not qualify for the procedure because that demands an exact heart fit for the technology.
“That meant so many patients had no real alternative – really just open-heart surgery which is often not appropriate for these patients as the risks are high and the recovery is long.
“The other option has been just tablets, with progression usually to heart failure over time.
“Having the expertise at the Royal Sussex in Brighton ready to carry out the procedures and getting the funding has been a huge advance for us as we can now offer some patients life-changing treatment.”
He added: “How the Pascal differs from the mitral valve replacement is that, when we go in through the groin, instead of implanting a whole new valve, we repair the leak by clipping the two leaflets together where there is a leak.
“That brings the leaflets together and stops the blood going backwards. And actually the results from this strange-sounding type of treatment have been very good and very durable so for many elderly patients that this could give them as good a result as a mitral valve replacement.
“Now we have this procedure available, people who would have had to put up with breathlessness and fatigue – and are unable to do what they want – can now come in, have a two-hour procedure, a night in hospital and be back home walking the dog the next day.
“This improves their quality of life and increases their life expectancy.
“In the long term, technology will improve for the replacement but, until it does, we are the only hospital in the south east that can offer this to patients. It is a great development.”
Hove patient Richard Godden is testament to the life-changing merits of the Pascal heart procedure.
A few weeks ago, he couldn’t go out on his own and was stuck in his armchair at home.
Now he’s looking to rekindle a 30-year friendship with a trip to the Sunshine Coast in Australia.
Mr Godden, 77, said: “I went in for the procedure in December. I went in on a Wednesday and came out the next day. Remarkable!
“The care I received was brilliant, great, second to none. Everyone was really lovely and it’s great the procedure was available at my local hospital. It’s made such a difference to me and it will for many other people like me.
“Before the operation I was basically in my armchair – a really low quality of life. I would struggle for breath, had to get a stair lift in (and) needed someone to come with me when I went outdoors because I couldn’t walk very far on my own.
“The difference I felt after the operation was huge. I can breathe better. I can exercise a little. I can walk further.
“Now, I am looking forward to going to Australia on my own to visit a very dear friend. I’ve asked the doctors and they’ve said there is no reason why I can’t go.”
Mr Godden, a retired accountant, added: “I first met my friend Francine at Lake Titicaca in Peru 30 years ago. Over the years we’ve visited each other but covid and my health put a stop to that.
“But now I’m on the way back and looking forward to visiting the Sunshine Coast in Queensland later this year.
“I’ll spend a few months out there and Francine is a retired nurse – so she can look after me.”
