MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
March 3, 2011
LHSC announces cardiac surgery world first
Pacemaker complication repaired using minimally invasive surgery
LONDON, Ontario - London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is proud to announce another world first. LHSC's cardiac surgery team successfully performed an emergency surgery to repair a hole in a patient’s heart caused by a pacemaker complication using the DaVinci robot.
On February 15, 2011, LHSC cardiac surgeon, Dr. Bob Kiaii received an emergency page. Patient Viola Addison had a hole in her heart that required immediate repair. The hole was caused by a pacemaker lead that had perforated the wall of her heart. Traditionally, this surgery is done via open chest surgery.
“The use of robotic surgery allows us to continually improve our surgery techniques and treat patients who are considered high risk for traditional surgery in a less invasive way,” says Dr. Kiaii. “The heart is a moving object -as it pumps blood and oxygen throughout the body the heart walls move in and out. This movement makes traditional endoscopic surgery very risky and challenging. The robot gives me the manual dexterity needed to perform surgeries that require precision like this one.”
With Ms. Addison’s chest closed, and using the robot on the beating heart, Dr. Kiaii placed a suture around the hole where the pacemaker lead had perforated through the wall of the heart. Next, the cardiology team pulled the pacemaker lead back into place while the surgery team closed the hole. This minimally invasive approach resulted in no bleeding, no complications and left Ms. Addison with only three small keyhole incisions. The surgery team was able to anchor the same pacemaker lead to a new position.
After a two-day stay at the hospital, Ms. Addison went home. Ms. Addison says for her the surgery was a “breeze”: “I am not in any pain and I am no longer out of breath. I don’t know where I would be without the surgery - it was something that had to be done.”
Surgical robots have been used in London since 1999 when LHSC acquired its first surgical robot. In 2000, LHSC established CSTAR, Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics, as a research and education program in partnership with Lawson Health Research Institute and The University of Western Ontario to advance minimally invasive robotic surgeries.
LHSC’s President and CEO, Bonnie Adamson congratulated the LHSC staff and surgeons. “This is a great example of the ongoing and proud tradition of medical firsts at LHSC.”
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been in the forefront of medicine in Canada for 135 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, South Street Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, a joint research initiative with St. Joseph’s Health Care, London. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 50 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in Southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
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For media inquiries contact:
Julia Capaldi
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 74772
julia.capaldi@lhsc.on.ca
After hours:
Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communication consultant on-call
Backgrounder
Medical Breakthroughs at LHSC
Since 1948, London Health Sciences Centre has delivered over 60 Canadian and World firsts.
On February 15, 2011, LHSC's cardiac surgery team, led by Dr. Bob Kiaii, successfully performed an emergency surgery to repair a hole in a patient’s heart caused by a pacemaker complication using the DaVinci robot.
This medical breakthrough is just the latest in LHSC’s long history of not only delivering top-quality care, but innovating the way that care is delivered.
Since 2000, LHSC’s has contributed to the following innovations to cardiac care:
2010
LHSC is the first in the world to successfully perform an aortic valve bypass using a specialized Aortic Valve Bypass (AVB) device.
2008
LHSC is the first in North America to implant an insertable cardiac monitor that offers long-term and continuous monitoring for atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia.
2007
Canada’s first totally endoscopic closed-chest robotic coronary artery bypass surgery on a patient’s beating heart is performed at LHSC
2006
An LHSC team is one of two independent Canadian teams to first use new electroanatomical mapping technology to perform a pulmonary vein ablation for atrial fibrillation
2005
World’s first robotic-assisted left atrial appendage ligation to reduce the chance of clot formation and stroke in high risk patients with atrial fibrillation is performed at LHSC
Canada’s first minimally invasive robotic-assisted double bypass surgery is performed at LHSC
2004
A CSTAR team is the first in North America to complete two different procedures to clear blocked arteries, minimally invasive robotic-assisted heart bypass surgery and angioplasty with stenting, at the same time in the operating room
In a North American first, an interdisciplinary team successfully removes a renal artery aneurysm with the help of a da Vinci surgical robot
2003
LHSC surgeons are the first in Canada to use a four-armed da Vinci robot to complete a single coronary artery bypass graft
LHSC’s Pulmonary surgery performed Canada’s first robotic-assisted lobectomy for lung cancer using Computer Motion’s AESOP® robotic arm
2002
An LHSC study determines that patients with congestive heart failure have an improved quality of life with a new pacemaker that works on both sides of the heart
LHSC cardiologists complete a left atrial appendage occlusion, a new procedure for stroke prevention that closes the area of the heart where the majority of blood clots form
2000
LHSC's surgical team performs the first minimally invasive robotic-assisted mitral valve heart surgery in Canada
LHSC counts its medical breakthroughs as among its proudest achievements. For a complete listing visit:
http://www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/LHSC/Who_We_Are/Medical_Breakthroughs.htm
For media inquiries contact:
Julia Capaldi
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 74772
Julia.capaldi@lhsc.on.ca
After-hours assistance:
Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communication consultant on-call
