Interventional procedure for cardiac ostium replacement in a primipara

Ms. Yang was from Anhui Province; she had just given birth to her first baby 100 days earlier and was indulging in the happiness of being a mother when she was struck by a sudden illness which weighed her family down with worries.

She suffered from sudden cardiac discomfort and chest pain two months ago without any predisposing factors and her condition became gradually aggravated, so she went to the hospital. After being diagnosed with proximal dissection of the aorta sinistra at the hospital, she underwent PCI and experienced tightness of the chest and gasping for breath on post-operative Day 2. UCG suggested mitral valve prolapse and the hospital advised her to receive a thoracotomy for treatment. However, Ms. Yang and her family were concerned about the young baby and the slow recovery from and major sequelae of the thoracotomy. They decided to choose conservative drug therapy out of consideration for the newborn's care.

Unfortunately, her symptoms failed to resolve after nearly a month of medication; instead, her condition worsened and she experienced hyperemesis and regurgitation immediately after meals, and even developed insomnia at night. Her family were very concerned.

Her family were referred by the local hospital to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU) and told that Profession Wang Jian’an and his team were highly skilled and experienced in minimally-invasive intervention for mitral regurgitation, after which Ms. Yang was transferred to SAHZU without delay.

At SAHZU, Professor Wang Jian’an immediately arranged for a multidisciplinary consultation and carefully reviewed the case report of Ms. Yang. The patient was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse and concomitant severe mitral regurgitation. Considering the exceptionally high risk and frailness of the patient, it was decided that a minimally-invasive interventional procedure called "transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair (TEER)" would be the safest and most effective treatment method.

On June 22, Professor Wang Jian’an and his team conducted transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair procedure on Ms. Yang with the DragonFly™ Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair System. Under the guidance of UCG and radiography, the device was inserted by transfemoral catheter technique via the right femoral vein and successfully punctured into the atrial septum, and the mitral valve clip system was successfully delivered to the area of mitral regurgitation through the guiding sheath. When the delivery of the system to the area of regurgitation was repetitively confirmed by transesophageal ultrasonography, two mitral valve clips were implanted. After the operation, the patient’s mitral regurgitation immediately decreased to 2+. The surgical process was smooth and the post-operative result was satisfactory; the whole family were overjoyed.

"I had a most relaxed and undisturbed sleep the night after the surgery. My heart no longer has that feeling of discomfort any longer and now I can have diet with some liquids. I was weak for quite a long time but now I am pepped up. "recalled Ms. Yang. When asked to comment on the innovative minimally-invasive interventional procedure, Ms. Yang said: "I couldn’t agree more; I believe in Professor Wang Jian’an and his team. Their sincere attitude and exceptional expertise convinced me. I would like to thank Professor Wang Jian’an and his team and the developer of the Dragonfly™ device. They helped me to reunite with my baby and family in the shortest possible time. It is my sincere hope that more and more patients will be saved."

Minimally-invasive interventional procedure is the treatment regimen with minimal post-operative wounds, the fastest recovery speed, and minimal adverse impact on the post-operative life of the patient, and transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair procedure is so far the most mature and reliable mitral valve intervention technique.

Medical innovation, technological innovation, and product innovation are motivated by the aspiration to meet patients’ clinical needs in actual scenarios, and Dragonfly™ is designed to help patients to improve their lives.