Mater Hospital performs new heart valve procedure for patients too high-risk for open surgery

A major step forward has been made

Five people have had the operation since the hospital began performing it in May, RTÉ News reported.

The procedure, a percutaneous mitral valve replacement, involves inserting a new mitral valve through a catheter via a vein in the groin, rather than opening the chest through the breastbone.

The hospital said it is far less invasive, carries a shorter recovery time and offers treatment where there was previously none.

What the Mater Hospital procedure meant for one Dublin patient

Derek Toomey, from Finglas in Dublin, was diagnosed in 2023 with a severely narrowed, calcified mitral valve. The 62-year-old was told surgery carried too great a risk because of severe lung disease.

"I couldn’t do a full set of stairs without stopping. Getting dressed in the morning, putting socks on, bending down trying to tie up shoelaces … I couldn’t breathe."

- Derek Toomey

Three months ago he was contacted by the Mater and offered the procedure, which he underwent in June. Within three days he was walking around the hospital without stopping, and he has since returned to work. "The transformation has been like black and white," he said.

Professor Ivan Casserly, who leads the multidisciplinary team at the Mater, said the procedure marks a significant step in cardiac care here. It is rare good news from a health service in which Irish patients fighting for HSE funding for surgery remains a familiar story. The hospital has not said how many more it expects to treat.