Through more than 20 years of efforts, Prof. Dong Nianguo of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and his team have independently developed a novel cellular valve, addressing the durability problem of traditional biovalves. Recently, the team has successfully performed novel cellular pulmonary valve replacement on Yue Yue (pseudonym), a 13-year-old child with congenital heart disease.
In May 2023, Yue Yue was admitted to the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of Union Hospital due to the worsening of her congenital heart disease. Upon examination, she was diagnosed with severe regurgitation of the pulmonary valve, aneurysmal dilatation of the pulmonary artery, enlargement of the right ventricle by nearly 100%, and right ventricular dysfunction. She was badly in need of surgery.
On May 29, with the collaboration of more than ten medical staff from the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, the Ultrasonic Department, the Anesthesiology Department and the Operating Room of Union Hospital, a novel cellular pulmonary valve was successfully implanted into Yue Yue, and the valve replacement took only 5 minutes.
"The novel cellular valve has outstanding biomechanical properties, and autologous cells will grow inside the implanted valve," said Prof. Dong. "With the capabilities of tissue remodeling and repair, the valve is not prone to calcification and failure, and is conducive to the functional restoration of the child's pulmonary valve". Given the fact that Yue Yue was young, and that the existing clinical biological and mechanical valves were not suitable, after an elaborate case study and evaluation, a decision was made to perform transcatheter novel cellular pulmonary valve replacement for her.
On December 7, Yue Yue returned to the hospital for reexamination. UCG showed that the artificial pulmonary valve was functioning well, and the right ventricle was smaller than it was before the surgery. Her cardiac function significantly improved.
Since 2023, Union Hospital has performed seven cases of novel cellular valve implantation. According to introducing, valve replacement is a key therapy for heart valve disease. At present, international cardiovascular society is facing an common problem that hasn’t been settled in over half a century—biovalves for clinical use are prone to calcification and failure, there are very few options for children's valves and neither of them have the capacity for valve growth. Experts believe that this novel substitute of cellular valve has differed from the existing theory and process systems of biovalve preparation by significantly improving valve durability, is expected to bring about a fundamental change of biomaterials from inert replacement to active regeneration, and may help to promote the iteration of clinical applications of biovalves.
Source: https://h.xinhuaxmt.com/vh512/share/11801558?d=134b428&channel=weixin
Edited by: International Exchange Office
