Saved heart by using 3D printing

9.08.2017

The first transcutaneous implantation of pulmonary valve arthroplasty was performed at the University Clinical Centre (UCC) on August 3, 2017. The patient was a 35-year-old male with congenital heart disease, who was operated in childhood in the USA. In a hybrid room at the Department of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery of the UCC, specialists performed implantation of the Melody’s transcatheter pulmonary valve (TPV) in a pulmonary position. Among the operating specialists was prof. Tomasz Moszura from the Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital Research Institute in Lodz.

During the preparation process, specialists performed a simulation of the surgery using an individual heart model of the treated patient at a 1:1 scale, which was created in the Department of Paediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Defects of the Medical University of Gdańsk in innovative 3D printing technology. Creation of the model was possible thanks to the results of magnetic resonance heart examination and M200 printer from Zortrax, a leading 3D printers’ company on the Polish market.

This type of treatment await more patients, who after the correction of Fallot Syndrome (pulmonary artery valve arthritis) have been diagnosed with the reoccurrence of stenosis or pulmonary valve regurgitation.