Saudi cardiac surgeons swap failing cow valve with an artificial replacement

Cardiologists in the Qassim region (central Saudi Arabia) were able to perform a high-risk open-heart operation for a female patient in which the mitral valve was replaced in a complex procedure that took 6 hours.

The Qassim Health Cluster announced that a specialized medical team at the Prince Sultan Center for Cardiology received on Thursday, July 6, a patient suffering from shortness of breath with minor effort, only to find out after conducting clinical and laboratory tests that her mitral valve had severe stenosis and calcification.

The patient was found to have undergone heart surgery 9 years ago in a Southeast Asian country, in which the same valve was replaced with another from a bovine source, and a decision was immediately made to replace the calcified valve with a metal one. The patient was discharged after 6 days, she is currently undergoing follow-ups in the outpatient department, to return to her normal life.

It is worth noting that heart valves of animal origin are usually implanted for elderly patients (over 65 years old) and females who want to have children in the future, as the valves require taking blood thinners that prevent future pregnancies.