TPCH shares heart expertise via satellite link

Procedures being carried out by TPCH Director of Cardiology Professor Darren Walters and the Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) team were beamed live via satellite to a cardiology conference in India.

The Prince Charles Hospital’s (TPCH) technology and expertise has been shared live via satellite link with around 2000 cardiologists attending a conference in India.

TPCH Director of Cardiology Professor Darren Walters and the Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) team were recently invited to share their knowledge and skills on a world stage by performing two TAVI procedures to the ‘India Live’ cardiology conference in Chennai attended by around 2000 international cardiologists.

These TAVI procedures involved the insertion of a specialised heart valve delivered via a catheter system through the patient’s groin.

A multidisciplinary team consisting of doctors, nurses, anaesthetic team, radiography and cardiac scientist staff assisted Professor Walters with the procedures, which took approximately two hours to complete.

Replacement of both native and bioprosthetic heart valves was performed in two separate labs, the hybrid in the hospital’s Main Operating Theatre and the cardiac catheter lab in CIU.

The live broadcast of the actual valve releases took 30 minutes each.

Through imparting his expertise to a worldwide audience during the live broadcast, Professor Walters, Doctors Poon, Bell, Murdoch, Platts, Burstow, Mengale and Dallimore and the cardiac support team continue to enhance and promote the treatment of patients with complex valvular heart disease. Senior radiographer Jim Crowhurst coordinated the project at TPCH’s end.