NASHVILLE, TN – A patient has undergone successful prophylactic cardiac resection at Nashville Medical Center today in a “very proactive effort” to mitigate any future chance of developing cardiovascular disease, Gomerblog reports.
Cardiac resection is rarely performed in living patients due to its main complications death and fatality.
“The patient weighed the pros and cons of keeping his heart versus having it removed, it was an informed procedure for sure,” said cardiothoracic surgeon Donna Howser, who performed the operation earlier today. “I think he surprised us all with how well he is doing post-operatively.”
Based on the operative note, Howser quickly gained access to the mediastinum, where she quickly and swiftly resected the heart. Howser opted against anastomosing any of the great vessels, essentially leaving the chest cavity and wound to heal entirely by secondary intention.
Of note, the patient is 28 years of age, without any family history of heart disease or risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
“I mean, they just extubated him in the ICU, his vital signs amazingly look pretty great, and his hemoglobin is holding stable,” Howser told Gomerblog. “This could be the future of cardiac prevention. He is the very first case; obviously, we’ll need to do a few more of these surgeries and trend it out. Plus, we’ll all have to get used to the silence on heart exam.”
If the patient continues to do well, patient will consider undergoing prophylactic resection of all organ systems later this year.
