Former fireman, 91, fighting fit after heart op
Joseph Baines, 91, is one of the oldest people in the north west to undergo the procedure at Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s much-lauded cardiac unit.
The £52m centre, which will remain open despite government proposals to axe others across the country, is the only one in the north of England offering the surgery — called Anterior Right Thoracotomy (ART) — to replace a faulty aortic valve.
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Hide AdThe new state-of-the-art approach, described as ‘minimally invasive’ because it is performed through a two-inch incision, was praised by Mr Baines, of Goosnargh.
He said: “I thought I was going to have to be cut open but there is a tiny scar and you wouldn’t know I’d had anything done.
“It’s brilliant what they do here and I am amazed how well everything has gone.
“I couldn’t have had any better treatment if I was royalty.”
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Hide AdSurgeon Joe Zacaharias added: “The least invasive way to replace an aortic valve is through this new technique. The procedure has a lower risk of blood loss and infection.”
Mr Zacaharias said older patients are usually sent off for a different type of procedures, but due to Mr Baines’ good health, it was decided he could have the ART surgery instead.
He added: “Mr Baines is amazingly fit and that helped us decide that this was the right thing to do for him.”