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The engineer who fixed his own heart

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#31

Post by z3niMAGiNE »

gonzo wrote: post #30
fernly wrote: post #28

I have some personal experience with the related problem. At age 60 a gradually increasing "murmur" led to a diagnosis of Aortic Ectasia[0], a stretching of the ring of muscle that is the base for the aortic valve. As the valve widens, the three leaflets overlap less and the valve doesn't seal properly, making the heart less efficient. In addition my ascending aorta, the big arched tube that is the subject of the abo…

In a word, No. It wouldnt fix the false lumen. This is me: http://aorticdissection.com/2011/12/06/jim-thompson-47/

If it has already dissected it's obviously too late. The parent comment asked if it would prevent dissection in those aneurysms that haven't yet dissected which is probably a more complicated question. It would probably depend on the elasticity of the vessel since we don't see dissection exclusively on absurdly dilated aortas. At the very least we can guess that it would help to extend the life of the native artery. Of course only long term monitoring of these patients will give us a somewhat conclusive answer.

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#32

Post by colanderman »

fernly wrote: post #28

I have some personal experience with the related problem. At age 60 a gradually increasing "murmur" led to a diagnosis of Aortic Ectasia[0], a stretching of the ring of muscle that is the base for the aortic valve. As the valve widens, the three leaflets overlap less and the valve doesn't seal properly, making the heart less efficient. In addition my ascending aorta, the big arched tube that is the subject of the abo…

(It's reputed to be one of the most painful experiences possible.)

Tangent: why have humans (animals in general I guess) evolved pain receptors inside their bodies?

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#33

Post by Wingman4l7 »

We need more collaboration between engineers and the field of medicine. I found the comments about the development process and his doctors' opinions of different approaches coming from outside the medical community almost as insightful and interesting as the invention itself.

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#35

Post by Wingman4l7 »

notdrunkatall wrote: post #29

Sounds incredibly obvious.

Apparently the basic technique was examined in the '50s: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6770227

However, IIRC, Tal's version is based on one that is custom-built to fit the patient, and of course uses more advanced materials.

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#36

Post by vinceguidry »

fernly wrote: post #28

I have some personal experience with the related problem. At age 60 a gradually increasing "murmur" led to a diagnosis of Aortic Ectasia[0], a stretching of the ring of muscle that is the base for the aortic valve. As the valve widens, the three leaflets overlap less and the valve doesn't seal properly, making the heart less efficient. In addition my ascending aorta, the big arched tube that is the subject of the abo…

> would it be an effective preventative for aortic dissection?

Even if it could measurably reduce the chances for known risk groups, would it really be prudent to perform open-heart surgery on a patient without a current condition?

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#37

Post by gonzo »

z3niMAGiNE wrote: post #31
gonzo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a word, No. It wouldnt fix the false lumen. This is me: http://aorticdissection.com/2011/12/06/jim-thompson-47/

If it has already dissected it's obviously too late. The parent comment asked if it would prevent dissection in those aneurysms that haven't yet dissected which is probably a more complicated question. It would probably depend on the elasticity of the vessel since we don't see dissection exclusively on absurdly dilated aortas. At the very least we can guess that it would help to extend the life of the native artery.…

It's not always the aneurysm that causes the dissection. Sometimes the dissection causes the aneurysm. The theory is that a plaque tears a he in the surface of the aorta.

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#38

Post by graeham »

10dpd wrote: post #25
graeham wrote: post #7

Aorta wrapping was actually pioneered in the 1950's, before the graft replacements that the article mentions, but generally the wrapping had a poor result and was abandonded as a technique. (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1802172/pdf/anns... ) Generally the trend in vascular surgery these days is to less invasive procedures such as a stent graft.

Sorry but when you use the term "generally" in a medical context you can be sure the following statement is incorrect. This article is referring to the aortic root which cannot be stinted due to its proximity to the heart.

"Generally" refers to an average trend, not that all examples must follow that trend.

I am not that familiar with Marfan's or this case, so I don't know if this device is useful in this case (http://www.medtronic.com/patients/heart-valve-disease/about-...), but there are stent-grafts that also replace the aortic value so that the stent-graft can be used close to the heart, and you can be sure that medical device companies are looking at ways of using stent-grafts in close proximity to the aortic valve without requiring its replacement.

Re: The engineer who fixed his own heart

#40

Post by coldtea »

colanderman wrote: post #32
fernly wrote: post #28

I have some personal experience with the related problem. At age 60 a gradually increasing "murmur" led to a diagnosis of Aortic Ectasia[0], a stretching of the ring of muscle that is the base for the aortic valve. As the valve widens, the three leaflets overlap less and the valve doesn't seal properly, making the heart less efficient. In addition my ascending aorta, the big arched tube that is the subject of the abo…

(It's reputed to be one of the most painful experiences possible.) Tangent: why have humans (animals in general I guess) evolved pain receptors inside their bodies?

Because the skin is not the only point that can give information of something going wrong?
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