Without anesthesia, without opening the chest and without stopping the heart. These operations are carried out at the Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery in Moscow. Patients range from adults to infants. Here they not only operate, but also invent new treatment methods. So many developments accumulated that they decided to organize the first All-Russian Coronary Congress. Rossina Bodrova saw how unique specialists act.
The valves are made of bovine pericardium, the structure is made of cobalt, chromium, nickel, and all these 32 millimeters in diameter are organically woven into the human body. There is a young 17-year-old patient on the operating table, who is undergoing her sixth heart operation. Even though it seems like an ordinary procedure. Science has progressed a lot and such manipulations can be performed even without anesthesia.
“Without opening the chest, without stopping the heart, we carry out the operation through a small puncture, through the femoral vein, using catheters we deliver the valve to the planned implantation site,” the doctor explained on radiological endovascular methods of diagnosis and treatment of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “National Medical Research Center for IM Cardiovascular Surgery. A. Bakulev Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation” Karen Petrosyan.
The proposed implantation site is the trunk of the pulmonary artery, although it is one of the largest compared to the others, but counting by millimeters the risks increase. You look at doctors, how easily they place a catheter from point A to point B and somehow mentally relax: they are high-level professionals and technological capabilities are at a level completely different.
In the operating room, doctors need additional radiation protection equipment. As soon as the green light turns orange, a specific sound will be heard, which means the X-ray machine is working, which helps the doctor to trace the correct path to the heart vessels.
The minimally invasive technique makes it possible to reduce the number of open heart surgeries. The surgeon inserts a catheter into a large blood vessel in the groin or chest and guides the implant through it to the heart. In terms of time, it’s like going to a therapist.
“The operation lasted 45-55 minutes, the patient can get up and walk today after the operation in a few hours,” explained Karen Petrosyan.
Another patient of the Bakulev Center came from Chuvashia with his mother. There, doctors diagnosed the child with a congenital heart defect even during pregnancy. Sent to Moscow. They operated and eliminated the disease. And now he confidently reaches out to his mother, his heart is healthy, and the mother’s heart, it seems, still worries about her son…
They don’t just diagnose, treat and operate here. They are still inventing. Scientists at the Center have patented a method for a new surgical treatment of the hearts of newborns and infants. The development was included in the top 10 important in medicine according to Rospatent.
“There has been significant progress in reducing mortality, in reducing the number of deaths, as you know, life expectancy has increased. Within the framework of ensuring compulsory medical insurance, the provision of services under the high-tech medical care program is part of the national health project, ”said the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences , director of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Federal state budgetary institution “National Medical Research Center of the USSR IM. A. Bakulev Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation” Elena Golukhova.
Heart failure can occur at any age. But thanks to an integrated approach to treatment, called “screening” at the Bakulev Real Estate Center, people, even those over 80, can today live for many more years.
“All of this can be done in a day; if you come in the morning, by noon you will have a complete understanding of the main issues. A very detailed life history is collected, tests are requested, a clinical picture is drawn up, including age, heredity, and an individual program is developed for everyone, ”explained the cardiologist, head of the Institution budget of the federal state “National Medical Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery. A. Bakulev Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation” Susanna Avakova.
According to doctors, the number one threat remains coronary heart disease. And the task is to significantly reduce the number of deaths from this disease. This is how the idea of ​​the First All-Russian Coronary Congress was born: and judging by the number of participants, the idea turned out to be very successful.
“As part of the first coronary congress, a separate section was created, digital medicine, to keep up with the times. What can artificial intelligence offer us? “This is a risk model that can give information to doctors about the risk that the surgeon will run before carrying out the operation or show that the risk is low and that there is no need to be afraid and to have the operation boldly”, said MP. chief physician of outpatient clinical work at the Federal State Budgetary Institution “National Medical Research Center of Cardiovascular Surgery”. A. Bakulev Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation” Tatyana Zavalikhina.
Two intensive days of scientific sessions, conferences, seminars and master classes with eminent experts from the other two regions of the country and abroad are coming.
It was previously reported that the Bakulev Center performed a unique open-heart operation on a baby, and the smallest child operated here was a baby weighing 650 grams.
Remember that the National Center for Medical Research in Sports Sciences bears his name. Bakuleva offers new approaches to treating patients with heart diseases and shares her experience of unique operations with other heart surgeons. So, in December 2022, the Center hosted a scientific conference “Creative Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery” with the participation of doctors from different countries.
