Study: Open Heart Surgery May Not Be Needed For Aortic Valve Replacement

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It may be possible for people with bad aortic valves to be able to avoid open heart surgery. This according to a new study out of Columbia University New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Traditionally, when an aortic valve is replaced, it has to be done through open heart surgery, a dramatic procedure. However, according to the new study, there is a way to insert a valve through a tube and an artery in the groin or chest instead. Seven hundred people were studied. The median age was 84 and they found that both groups had roughly the same mortality rate.

Those in favor of the new procedure say the recovery time is dramatically reduced. Those who argue against it point to the fact that there is still double the risk of stroke as a result of the new procedure.

The number of strokes overall were small, but there is still that concern. This is still an experimental procedure, but it is certainly getting a great deal of attention.

Reported by Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio