The interventional cardiologist Marco Costa , who coordinates the Unit of Cardiovascular Intervention at Hospital da Luz Coimbra, performed here recently with success a highly complex surgery, demonstrating once again the differentiating capacity of this team in the Centre region. The procedure in question – left atrial appendage closure (LAA) – was applied to treat a 77-year-old female patient, who suffered a recurrent stroke despite taking anticoagulants. Marco explains what the procedure consisted of and how it went: “We performed the minimally invasive procedure by placing a percutaneous LAA closure device, with success and without complications. The patient was discharged 24 hours after the intervention. Everything went really well.” “The left atrial appendage is a small ‘pouch’ where blood clots often form and eventually cause cerebral vascular accidents (strokes), mostly associated with hypocontractility states – for instance, cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation.” “The closure of the left atrial appendage is necessary, when patients present a high risk of vascular accident related with atrial fibrillation and have indication to take anticoagulants, but for some reason cannot do it (high haemorrhage risk) or when it proves to be ineffective.” A specialist in this procedure, Marco Costa was these last few months in the United States, supporting American colleagues in this kind of complex interventions. “I was in five hospitals, where I certified five American colleagues and helped in many complex interventions, always through catheters, in a non-surgical minimally invasive manner”, he states. The Unit of Cardiovascular Intervention from Hospital da Luz Coimbra has currently available different types of coronary interventions (complex, structural, valvular and non-valvular). Led by Marco Costa, the team includes interventional cardiologists, technicians and nurses specialized in this area, cardiac surgeons, imaging specialists and anaesthesiologists. They count with the “fundamental support” of the cardiac pacing area, the Unit of Intensive Care and the inpatient service. “The patients may be referred by their assisting doctor to a specific consultation of interventional cardiology at Hospital da Luz Coimbra, in order to plan the intervention”, concludes the physician.
