Designated as Korea’s only cardiac hospital by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Sejong Hospital has succeeded in ‘aortic valve and ascending aortic replacement’ by right chest incision for the first time in Korea.
For aortic valve surgery with minimal incision, surgery using mostly non-surgical aortic valves was widely used in the past, but it is the first-ever aortic root replacement (aortic valve replacement, coronary artery reattachment, and ascending aortic replacement) done in a traditional manner.
 
Having no history of the disease, the patient (a 57-year-old man) felt sudden chest pain and discomfort. He visited the hospital on May 27 (Wed.) and received echocardiography, blood test, and electrocardiogram and was diagnosed with aortic root dilatation and aortic valve regurgitation, conditions that require surgery to prevent heart failure or aortic dissection.

Normally, in the case of aortic valve replacement and ascending aortic replacement surgery, the sternum in the middle of the chest should be incised or replaced with a non-sealing valve through a minimal incision. But after talking closely with the patient and his family, the hospital’s thoracic surgery director Kim Dong Jin decided to use a minimal invasive method of ‘aortic valve and ascending aortic replacement’ with a traditional approach.

Aortic valve replacement, coronary reattachment, and ascending aortic replacement using traditional techniques with minimal incision are high-level surgeries that can only be performed by surgeons having a wide range of clinical experiences and excellent medical techniques. After successful surgery and favorable developments, the patient was discharged healthily without any abnormality on the last examination on the 12th (Fri).

Traditional methods of aortic valve replacement, coronary attachment, and ascending aortic replacement are the safest and most fundamental treatments with clinical results accumulated over decades globally, which can minimize complications, reduce medical costs, and benefit patients significantly.
 
Korea’s only cardiology hospital, Sejong Hospital will continue to write a new chapter in the history of heart treatment in Korea.