In modern minimally invasive cardiac surgery, age is just a number
Should treatment be denied to an elderly person simply because they have outlived many of their classmates?
The average life expectancy in Bulgaria is around 75.8 years, compared to 81.5 years in Europe. How actively retirees can live in our country depends on their outlook on life and their health condition, but elderly people who value their time and health should not give up on a полноцен and meaningful life.
Today, thanks to medical advances, worn-out or diseased structures of the human body can be replaced with minimal trauma. This allows a person to remain active and close to their loved ones for as long and as fully as possible, rather than agonizing until the end of their days. New joints, vascular implants, and heart valves are implanted without the large surgical interventions known from the past.
Such is the case of Dimitar. At the remarkable age of 86, he was admitted urgently to the high-tech hospital complex “Heart and Brain” with severe shortness of breath and swelling throughout his body. At the cardiology clinic, specialists discovered that one of his heart valves—the mitral valve—was ruptured. The patient was indicated for surgical treatment. Standard mitral valve surgery involves opening the breastbone, causing major surgical trauma and requiring a recovery period of about two months.
In Germany, 86% of mitral valve surgeries are performed in this way, while only 14% of patients undergo minimally invasive procedures. At the cardiac surgery department of “Heart and Brain” in Burgas, this is not the case—all patients with valve diseases are operated on minimally invasively. Dimitar was stabilized with medication, prepared for surgery, and operated on endoscopically. Under video control, through four small incisions in the chest, his valve was replaced with a new-generation biological prosthesis. The next day, the patient was walking in the intensive care unit, and a week later he was home with his family.
Similar procedures are performed daily by the team of Dr. Petar Uzov at the Cardiac Surgery Clinic of “Heart and Brain.” Since 2019, Dr. Uzov has introduced the method of totally endoscopic access to the heart valves, making him a pioneer in the country. All structural heart diseases can be treated endoscopically, and science and practice show that contraindications for the method are few.
