At Dicle University Heart Hospital, a successful replacement of the heart valve with a new generation valve using the transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) method was performed for the first time in Turkey in patients with aortic stenosis.
Professor Dr Faruk Ertaş, faculty member of the Department of Cardiology at Dicle University Faculty of Medicine's Heart Clinic, said: "For the first time in Turkey, we have successfully implanted the new generation heart valve in two patients at our centre with the world-renowned Italian TAVI surgeon Alfonso Selasi. This is a proud moment for us."
Professor Dr Faruk Ertaş explained that the heart has four important valves, one of which, the aortic valve, can narrow over time for various reasons. He said: "Our heart has four important valves. One of them is the aortic valve. A narrowing of the aortic valve can have serious consequences, as the heart circulates all the blood through the aortic valve to the vital organs with every beat. A narrowing of the aortic valve is usually caused by age and rheumatism. In the past, the only treatment for this narrowing was surgery. Later, however, a method called TAVI emerged, in which the existing, damaged heart valve is replaced with a new biological valve by inserting it through the groyne and arms, similar to a cardiac angiogram. This procedure is now very comfortable and life-saving for patients. The main reasons in favour of this procedure are that patients do not need a general anaesthetic, that it is minimally invasive, without opening the chest, that the procedure is short, about 40 minutes, an hour at most, and that patients can be discharged within one or two days."
Comfortable treatment with the new TAVI method
Prof Dr Ertaş, who explained that the TAVI method was first used in France in 2002 and has been used worldwide since 2010, continued:
With the advancement of technology, the new generation valves have eliminated such problems. Now we are using technology that is more comfortable for both doctors and patients. We are using a technology that causes less harm to patients and is more optimal for them. We have successfully used these new generation valves for the first time in Turkey on two patients in our own centre with the world-renowned Italian TAVI surgeon Alfonso Selasi. If we now look at our country as a whole, our country is really well positioned in terms of cardiology. As a centre, we have the technical infrastructure and experienced equipment to successfully apply such valves or the TAVI method to our patients. But the fact that we are using a new generation valve for the first time in Turkey in our own centre makes us and our centre really proud. I would like to thank everyone involved, especially our Rector Prof Dr Mehmet Karakoç and our Chief Physician Prof Dr Mehmet Ata Akıl.
