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Worldwide first implant of a new type of heart valve repair system at the University Medical Center Mainz

Treatment successes prove the innovative strength of Mainz cardiologists

The world's first commercial PASCAL Ace use on humans in the modern hybrid operating room of Mainz University Medicine. Interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work hand in hand with innovative, minimally invasive transcatheter technology. Image source: Markus Schmidt, Mainz University Medical Center

World premiere for a new type of heart valve repair system at the University Medical Center Mainz (UMCM): Cardiologist Dr. Ralph Stephan von Bardeleben and his team implanted the newest generation of the PASCAL Ace Implant System for the interventional treatment of five patients with mitral or tricuspid valve defects. The successful use of this innovative therapy option is a further demonstration of the innovative strength of Mainz University Medical Center and its Department of Cardiology.

The UMCM and its cardiology have a strong expertise in the treatment of patients with heart valve defects. The range of offered therapies now includes a new option for catheter-supported valve reconstructions: the PASCAL Ace system. This device is particularly suitable for complex cases of diseases of the mitral or tricuspid valve. Both valve diseases can often only be treated with medication (usually with diuretics), but rarely can be cured. Surgical repair of heart valves is always associated with a high risk of the intervention and a high likelihood reappearance of the heart defect. To the contrary, experienced and skilled interventionalists along with the new valve repair system are both prerequisites for a successful interventional treatment of mitral or tricuspid valve defects.

Dr. Ralph-Stephan von Bardeleben, Head of the Section of Interventional Heart Valve Therapy and Implanter of the new system, comments: “Due to the new design, the system allows significantly better mobility of ??the valve holding apparatus leading to an even more targeted repair of leaks of the mitral and tricuspid valves. Our Center offers on of the largest portfolio in Europe for the repair of heart valves employing minimally invasive transcatheter treatment.  

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Münzel, Director of the Department of Cardiology at Mainz University Medicine: “Interventional heart valve therapy in Mainz has now picked up at a rapid pace. It offers the great advantage that almost all heart valve defects (stenoses and insufficiencies) can now be treated minimally invasive. The simultaneous establishment our new heart valve unit allows us to discharge patients over 70 years of age already within 2 to 3 days after heart valve implantation.

Diseases of the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve can result in the valves not closing properly and therefore leaking. As a result, the blood flows back from the respective heart chambers into the corresponding atrium, which in turn can cause a wide range of symptoms - from an enlarged heart to excessive water retention in the lungs or legs to shortness of breath and cardiac arrhythmias. Currently, across Europe, 4 - 8% of people over 75 years of age are affected by leaks in the mitral and tricuspid valves, and 25-30% of these patients have manifest congestive heart failure. 

 

Further information:
Caption: The world's first commercial PASCAL Ace use on humans in the modern hybrid operating room of Mainz University Medicine. Interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work hand in hand with innovative, minimally invasive transcatheter technology.
Image source: Markus Schmidt, Mainz University Medical Center

 

Press contact:
Barbara Reinke
Corporate Communications
University Medical Center Mainz
Langenbeckstr. 1
55131 Mainz, GERMANY
phone +49 6131 17-7428
fax +49 6131 17-3496
e-mail:  pr@unimedizin-mainz.de
www.unimedizin-mainz.de

 

About the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
The University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) is the only medical institution of supra-maximum supply in Rhineland-Palatinate and an internationally recognized science location. It comprises more than 60 clinics, institutes, and departments working interdisciplinarily. Highly specialized patient care, research, and teaching form an inseparable unit in the University Medical Center Mainz. Around 3,400 students of medicine and dentistry are trained in Mainz. With approximately 8,000 employees, the University Medical Center Mainz is also one of the largest employers in the region and an important driver of growth and innovation. Further information is available online at www.unimedizin-mainz.de.