A Vancouver cardiologist has presented details of a revolutionary heart valve surgery to thousands of doctors from around the world and says the minimally invasive procedure will 害羞草研究所渂low people害羞草研究所檚 minds.害羞草研究所�

Dr. David Wood led a study involving 411 patients who underwent an operation called 3M transcatheter aortic valve replacement for treating aortic heart valve disease, at 13 centres across North America, 11 of them in Canada.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 going to change, we think, not just North American, but global practice,害羞草研究所� Wood said Monday before presenting the study at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Denver, where 15,000 attendees had enrolled.

Instead of invasive open heart surgery, which requires general anesthetic, slicing of the sternum, or breastbone, and long hospital stays and recovery time, patients were awake for the 45-minute procedure and walking within a few hours. Eighty per of them went home the next day.

害羞草研究所淵ou had no breathing tube, no catheter in your bladder, you could return to work the next day, you could be driving the next day. These are things that I think the average person can害羞草研究所檛 believe are feasible in 2017,害羞草研究所� said Wood, who practises at Vancouver General Hospital and St. Paul害羞草研究所檚 Hospital in the same city.

The aortic valve is the most important of four heart valves and leads from the heart to the body, supplying blood to the head, lungs and muscles. It wears out and narrows with age.

The median age of patients in the study was 84, and their symptoms include chest pain and shortness of breath.

害羞草研究所淥nce you start getting symptoms, 50 per cent of people are going to be dead within a year so it害羞草研究所檚 absolutely imperative that you fix that valve,害羞草研究所� Wood said.

The new innovation builds on a technique pioneered by Wood害羞草研究所檚 colleague Dr. John Webb in 2005, which still required general anesthetic and a week-long hospital stay.

害羞草研究所淏y doing less, actually the patients did better,害羞草研究所� he said of their work done at the Centre for Heart Valve Innovation involving St. Paul害羞草研究所檚, VGH and the University of British Columbia.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 truly been a revolution,害羞草研究所� he said, adding the latest procedure means quality of life for patients and cost savings for the health-care system, aspects his team are looking into quantifying.

Sister Theresa Stickley had the 害羞草研究所渕iracle害羞草研究所� surgery in 2013 at age 83 when she lived in Squamish, B.C., and became increasingly exhausted and had difficulty breathing.

害羞草研究所淭he doctor told me I was very close to death and had a couple of months only to live,害羞草研究所� Stickley said of the surgery that meant she didn害羞草研究所檛 have to have her 害羞草研究所渨hole chest bone sawed through.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淚 was walking right after the surgery,害羞草研究所� she said from the Monastery of the Angels in Los Angeles, where the American-Canadian citizen moved last year.

Max Morton, 79, was the first person to have the procedure as an emergency-room patient at Vancouver General Hospital. He害羞草研究所檇 already had open heart surgery a decade earlier.

害羞草研究所淲ithin 24 hours I thought, well, this is nice. It was such an amazing experience being awake for the whole thing,害羞草研究所� he said from his home in Richmond, B.C., adding he went fishing five days later.

害羞草研究所淭he only reason Max is alive is because we害羞草研究所檇 been doing the study and we were able to use that technique for Max. That害羞草研究所檚 why he害羞草研究所檚 such an amazing story. No one had ever done it before like that.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所� Follow @CamilleBains1 on Twitter.

Camille Bains, The Canadian Press