Breakthrough promise for Australian heart surgery
Updated
Australian doctors have described a new non-surgical heart procedure as a great leap forward in coronary care.
St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney has become the first place in Australia to conduct the procedure, which uses a catheter inserted under local anaesthetic to replace the aortic valve.
The director of interventional cardiology, David Muller, says it might eliminate the need for open heart surgery in older patients.
"This is a big, big deal for us, this is a very big leap in terms of what we can achieve for elderly patients," he said.
