Belgian surgeons place cardiac valve in baby via catheter in liver

Surgeons at the University Hospital Leuven (UZ Leuven) have succeeded in placing a new cardiac valve in a one-year-old baby via a catheter in the liver, which is a world first.

Just after birth, the baby received a new cardiac valve via open-heart surgery. “This valve, however, quickly broke down, because the immune defence of babies is very active, so we needed to install a new one after a year,” explained cardiologist Marc Gewillig in a press statement. “A second open-heart operation would entail severe health risks, so we had to consider surgery via a catheter.”

Normally, surgeons put the catheter through a vein in the groin or the neck to the heart. “But these veins in children who weigh less than 10kg are too small for such a catheter, which is about 8mm wide,” said Gewillig. The surgeons therefore installed the catheter via the liver. “The liver is a good alternative because it is like a kind of sponge in which you can relatively easily make apertures,” said Gewillig.

The baby is now back home and is in good health.

Photo: UZ Leuven