AN obese patient has recently undergone a successful heart valve repair surgery, which is typically considered a high-risk procedure by major cardiology centers in China, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

The patient, surnamed Zeng, weighs as much as 170 kilograms, placing him in the obese range according to the Body Mass Index (BMI) — a measure that uses one’s height and weight to work out if the weight is healthy. Zeng experienced extreme fatigue and exhaustion in May, which prompted him to seek medical attention at Shenzhen People’s Hospital.

After thorough investigations and a review of his medical history, it was determined that Zeng suffered from mitral valve prolapse, a condition in which the heart’s mitral valve does not close tightly, necessitating urgent surgical intervention. However, cardiac surgery on severely obese patients is considered a huge challenge globally, primarily due to the excessive subcutaneous adipose tissue beneath the skin, which poses a heightened surgical risk.

Therefore, instead of conventional cardiac surgery, Dr. Meng Chunying and his team decided to perform a minimally invasive thoracoscopically assisted cardiac surgery. To accommodate the patient’s unique physical characteristics, lengthened surgical instruments were used, and the operating table was widened to provide adequate space for the procedure.

Thanks to the collective efforts of the surgical team, the operation was carried out successfully.

After the operation, mitral valve functions normally per image by transesophageal echocardiogram — a test that uses sound waves to create pictures of the heart, and no adverse reactions such as circulatory collapse, arrhythmia, or vascular injury were observed.

(Chen Siqi)