Hospital da Luz Coimbra performed, on June 6, two interventions through TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation), a minimally invasive technique that is the only hope for high-risk cardiac patients or who are not electable for surgery. “After the period of special confinement, we are able to perform these procedures once again. The pandemic situation in the central region, as with the rest of the country, forced many patients with severe aortic stenosis to see their treatment postponed. Thus, we congratulate ourselves to be able to maintain this possibility for especially severe cases and patients with very high surgical risk”, explains Marco Costa , interventional cardiologist who led the team that performed these procedures at Hospital da Luz Coimbra. This technique, already used in Portugal for 10 years, is the only medical solution that enables to maintain a good quality of life – or even save life – for patients with aortic stenosis that are inoperable. Done by femoral approach (through the groin), this technique reduces considerably the invasive level of treatment for these patients, that are largely aged and are naturally at higher risk in open-heart surgeries. Aortic stenosis affects about 32 thousand Portuguese, and it is estimated that around 25 thousand people over 75 years-old suffer from asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis, with strong implications in their quality of life. Out of these 25 thousand, around 4.500 have indication for treatment with TAVI, since they are inoperable or have high surgical risk, in accordance with the national and international recommendations on valvular disease currently applicable. In the first year of activity of the Unit of Cardiovascular Intervention, under the coordination of Marco Costa, Hospital da Luz Coimbra has already performed dozens of complex coronary interventions – such as interatrial communication closure using intra-cardiac echography, mitral clip insertion using three-dimensional echography, and percutaneous implantation of aortic valves (an intervention performed last December that was pioneer in the central region).
