MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release
September 17 , 2018
(LONDON, Ontario) – Surgeons at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) have pioneered the use of a new trans-catheter aortic valve, offering patients faster recovery and better long-term outcomes than previously available.
In a Canadian first, Dr. Bob Kiaii and a multidisciplinary heart team at University Hospital implanted a device called the Medtronic Evolut Pro Valve through the femoral artery of patient Herlinde Poeltl, avoiding the open heart surgery Poeltl believed she would need to replace her damaged aortic valve.
One week after Poeltl received her life-changing surgery a second patient, Rosa Mascherin, was in the operating room in need of a similar valve replacement. Doctors had determined that her femoral artery was too small for the valve to be inserted the standard way, so in a world-first procedure, the valve was implanted directly through the main aorta, avoiding the need for open-heart surgery and the extensive recovery that surgery requires.
Dr. Kiaii, Mrs. Poeltl and Ms. Mascherin will be available to speak to media about these remarkable ‘firsts’. Please contact Kathy Leblanc for an interview time.
Date: Tuesday, September 18
Time: 9:30am-11:00am
Location: University Hospital
339 Windermere Rd.
For media inquiries contact:
Kathy Leblanc
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 74772
After-hours assistance:
Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communications consultant on-call.
Visit the LHSC Media web site at www.lhsc.on.ca/media
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