Latest news with #aorta
ABC News
08-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
How a 3D printed aorta helped surgeons replace a 'ticking time bomb' inside a man's chest
Surgeons have replaced most of a man's aorta in a life-saving operation after scans revealed he was walking around with a "ticking time bomb" inside his chest. The Queensland man's aorta, the biggest blood vessel in the body, had ballooned to about four times the usual size, leaving it in danger of rupturing — a medical emergency likely to have cost him his life. Doctors used a life-sized 3D printed model of the man's dangerously enlarged aorta to prepare for the high-stakes surgery at The Prince Charles Hospital, on Brisbane's northside, last month. In their most complicated anatomical model so far, engineers and industrial designers developed the replica at Brisbane's Herston Biofabrication Institute, using computer software and scans of the patient to guide them. It then took a cutting-edge printer almost four days to create the 3D reproduction, allowing the medical specialists to better plan for the operation on the man, aged in his late 50s, because it gave them a deeper insight into his anatomy before they put scalpel to skin. Without it, they would have had to rely on two-dimensional scans. The cane-shaped aorta starts at the heart's main pumping chamber, then travels upwards and curves over the heart in what's known as the aortic arch, before descending through the chest, down through the abdomen and ending near the navel. It delivers oxygen-enriched blood to the body. Vascular surgeon Samantha Peden said the diameter of the patient's aorta at the arch was about 8 centimetres, compared to the average size of 2-3cm. His had stretched way beyond normal size because of a disorder with his connective tissue, a condition which is yet to be definitively diagnosed. He had surgery in 2017 to repair a tear of the aorta, but the artery continued to expand over time, to the point it needed to be replaced as the wall thinned. "The risk is, if you leave it, it can rupture. Most patients would die," Dr Peden said. The operation itself was not without significant danger. During the procedure, the patient's body had to be cooled so he could be put under circulatory arrest — a condition which involves temporarily stopping the heart to prevent it from pumping blood throughout the body. Blood flow is stopped for about 20 minutes. "They can wake up with a stroke or they might not wake up," Dr Peden said. Paraplegia, kidney and liver failure are also possibilities. In the nine-hour procedure, a team of vascular and heart surgeons, operating in tandem to reduce the length of the surgery, replaced the patient's upper aorta with a synthetic graft made from material Dr Peden describes as akin to flexible, waterproof jackets. Almost three weeks later, the patient is still in hospital but out of intensive care, and preparing for intensive rehabilitation. "He's recovering really well, hasn't had any major complications, so we're all really happy with his progress," Dr Peden said. "There's no evidence of paraplegia. He's got full function to his arms and legs. The man will have the lower part of his aorta replaced later this year. Dr Peden likened the operation to "fancy plumbing", but it's a highly specialised procedure only carried out in about "five or six" centres across Australia and New Zealand because of its complexity. The Prince Charles Hospital team performs just six full aortic replacements on average a year. Industrial designer Liam Georgeson, who is based at the Herston Biofabrication Institute, worked on the 3D model of the patient's aorta using a digital anatomy printer. "It has the ability to print many different materials into the one print," Mr Georgeson said. The former electrician said the institute was working with vascular surgeons to develop patient replicas of blood vessels connected to pumps, designed to copy the rhythmic pumping action of the heart. This allows surgeons to practise on models with simulated blood flow before operating on a patient.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Birmingham hospital's lack of radiologists criticised after death
A lack of radiologists on duty was a key factor in the death of a man who went into hospital suffering chest pains, a coroner Villa fan Mark Villers died three days after he sought help while suffering from an unidentified tear in his aorta – the artery carrying blood from his heart – at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, on 21 May Louise Hunt said, in a prevention of future deaths report, his condition went undiagnosed as abnormalities that showed up on a CT scan were not recognised, but should have prompted tests that would have discovered the BBC has approached University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust for a response. Since Mr Villers died, a fundraising page set up for his family has raised more than £33, Stephen Plant said Mr Villers had been a selfless, kind, caring and strong person who had been "striving to make a difference in this world".He said the loyal Villa fan had been a "passionate lover of life". 'Large number of CT scans' The coroner's report described how Mr Villers went to the hospital on 18 May 2024 with a severe chest pain, initially assessed by medics as alcohol-induced gastritis, a digestive CT scan was reported as showing no abnormalities but a review later revealed it had shown problems that, if they had been spotted, further tests would have been carried out and his life could have been 20 May, Mr Villers returned to the hospital and it was thought he had infected gallstones. He stayed overnight and no concerns were noted but an inquest heard he was found collapsed the next morning and could not be resuscitated.A post-mortem examination confirmed the tear in the aorta caused Mr Villers' death. Ms Hunt said the trust investigated and found there were "insufficient radiologists to report the large number of CT scans undertaken over the weekend period" at the time Mr Villers went to said it was "one of the root causes of the very subtle abnormality indicating aortic dissection being missed".Her report said the inquest heard, while the situation had improved at the hospital, the number of radiologists on duty was still not in accordance with Royal College of Radiology (RCR) BBC has contacted the RCR for a comment on what the required staffing levels are. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
