A unique operation in the world was performed atUniversity Hospital Sant'Andrea in Rome, where a 23-year-old had his trachea and innominate artery reconstructed, the major arterial branch originating from the aorta. Following a fulminant hemorrhage, the young man, first treated in Macerata, then transferred to Ancora and finally to Sant'Andrea, underwent an operation that lasted five and a half hours. The intervention was conducted and coordinated by the professor Erin Angelo Rendina and his team within the Sant'Andrea-Sapienza University Hospital.
25 operators were involved
Never performed before, the operation involved 25 operators, including doctors from the departments of anesthesia, heart surgery, cardiology and general surgery. It began with the removal of part of the trachea and the entire innominate artery and ended with the reconstruction of the trachea and the replacement of the innominate artery with a biological conduit. The patient was then transferred to intensive care in stable condition. He stayed here for two days before returning to the thoracic surgery department. Thirteen days later he was discharged.
Comments on the speech
“The life of this boy – declared Professor Rendina – was saved first of all by the courage and great skills of the doctors of Macerata and Ancona and, secondly, by the value and synergy of five different medical teams, united by the common belonging to Sapienza University and Sant'Andrea". With this extraordinary result, Lazio healthcare reconfirms itself as an Italian and international excellence, as he commented Francesco Rocca, president of the Lazio Region.
“This operation – said Rocca – also adds to the recent and pioneering reconstruction of the aorta performed last March. Sant'Andrea, directed by the doctor Daniela Donetti, is increasingly confirming itself as a cutting-edge structure, a symbol of the excellence of the academy and clinic of our Region". Proud, the Rector Antonella Polimeni, who underlined: “This intervention demonstrates that interdisciplinarity allows for increasingly advanced results”.
(Photo: Nurses Sant'Andrea Hospital Rome, Facebook page; cover photo: Pixabay)
