Simultaneous double implantation of prosthesis, aortic and mitral, with a beating heart on a 66-year-old patient, after having first experimented with the operation on a 3D copy of the cardiac organ. The operation, so far very rare in the world and unprecedented in Italy, was performed at the Cardiac Surgery of the Molinette hospital of the Città della Salute in Turin, thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between surgeons and engineers.
The combination of the two implants – explain the surgeons of the Turin hospital – is very difficult to perform since the two prostheses could ‘come into conflict’, putting the patient’s life at risk. So in this case, before carrying out the double system, the collaboration of mechanical and aerospace engineers from the Polytechnic of Turin was requested. The 3D simulation guaranteed the feasibility of the intervention.
The patient was suffering from a serious disease of two heart valves, the aortic and the mitral, with the functioning of the lungs so compromised that traditional ‘open heart’ surgery was contraindicated. Cardiac surgeon Professor Stefano Salizzoni took action to find the solution to implant two beating heart prostheses. After the ultrasound and CT scan, the patient’s heart was reconstructed in 3D by engineers in collaboration with the CompMech Group of the University of Pavia and the 3D4Med Laboratory of the San Matteo Polyclinic in Pavia. The double implant operation was carried out at Molinette by Professor Stefano Salizzoni, it lasted about two hours and was perfectly successful. The patient was already discharged after a few days and returned home.
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