News

Earlier this year, Clinical Lead for Intervention at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Dr Clare Appleby, gave a presentation to leading figures in the heart valve disease world about gender inequalities in heart valve disease treatment. Here, Dr Appleby discusses that presentation and looks at how to address inequalities in heart valve disease care.

Traditionally heart valve follow-ups in outpatients are offered at routine intervals. Although this works well for some patients, for those who are managing their condition well it often means time and money spent on a trip to a hospital that isn’t needed.

In the largest randomized trial conducted to compare minimally invasive and conventional cardiac surgical techniques for repairing a poorly functioning mitral valve, improvements in physical activity, as well as surgical outcomes and quality of life were similar in both groups of patients at 12 weeks post-surgery. The research was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology.

Last week, Heart Valve Voice once again teamed up with our partners at Valve for Life UK for another Your Heart Matters event. This time, the team went to Bristol, where we were joined by clinicians from University Hospital Bristol and Weston

Across the UK, clinicians face the reality of their patients dying while waiting to be treated. Patients who are being treated are having to wait longer, meaning they are becoming sicker, and require more complex procedures. Clinicians face a constant battle for lab space and bed space, just to be able to perform their life-saving duties.

Yesterday Heart Valve Voice were delighted to be at Birmingham Central Library to promote awareness of heart valve disease and how it's treated.