A recent medical report revealed that people with serious heart disease are now able to benefit from a revolutionary treatment, which may spare them from undergoing a complex surgery known as the “open heart.”
According to the New York Times, people with damage to the part known as the tricuspid valve are the beneficiaries of the new treatment, which relies on a very small device.
The data indicates that more than a million Americans, most of them elderly, suffer from a disorder of the tricuspid valve, which is a valve on the right side of the heart muscle.
This valve allows oxygen-free blood to pass from the right atrium to the right ventricle, but when a leak occurs in this area, the flow occurs backwards.
As a result, fluid buildup occurs in vital organs of the body, which leads to swollen feet, and the situation may worsen and lead to heart failure.
The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which specializes in medical affairs.
The symptoms of this health disorder usually range from fatigue, bloating in the abdomen and feet, and a feeling of discomfort, and puffiness may also occur in the eye.
The good news lies in the fact that the medical device company “Abbott” revealed the results of clinical trials for a treatment that helps control the size of the tricuspid valve in order to make it smaller and able to work better.
The device used in this case is characterized by its small size, and it is similar to another medical device being used in the treatment of the mitral valve in the heart.
Experts described the results of the therapeutic technique as promising, after the case of those who benefited from it was followed up for a full year, but this period is still not sufficient to judge the positive effect in terms of prolonging the lives of patients.
The new treatment plays a prominent role by stopping the leakage in the valve, while its material cost is not yet known.