Russian doctors were the first in the world to perform surgery on a patient with a heart defect through a small incision

Cardiac surgeons of the National Medical Research Center named after Academician E.N. Meshalkin performed an operation on a 65-year-old patient with critical aortic heart disease and severe dilatation of the aorta. The heart was accessed through a small lateral incision. TASS reports this with reference to the center's press service.

“This is the world’s first experience of simultaneous replacement of the aortic valve of the heart, ascending section and aortic arch through a mini-access measuring six centimeters with dissection of the skin in the intercostal space,” the statement said. Typically, such operations are performed through the sternum with a three times larger incision.

During the operation, doctors replaced the man's altered section of the aorta and the affected valve with a synthetic prosthesis. The director of the center’s Institute of Circulatory Pathology, Alexander Bogachev-Prokofiev, noted that thanks to this technology they were able to leave the bone structures of the sternum completely intact, as well as carry out rapid rehabilitation of the patient. He will be able to return to full physical activity within 10-14 days after the operation.