>"The most important thing is that we try to get really really simple solutions for complex problems," Dr Freudenthal told the BBC.<p>I still think the coolest part is that this knitted thing is inserted into your groin and it ends up unfolding in your heart.
<i>This minimally invasive approach also helps to avoid cultural barriers to treatment: manipulating a heart is considered an act of desecration on the human soul by some indigenous communities in Bolivia.<p>"By not operating with an open heart" says Dr Freudenthal, "We are also respecting the will of many patients who would not want their children to be operated otherwise."</i><p>The concept and entire article are both nifty.
I wonder if this, or a variant, would be appropriate for septal defects? My daughter had open-heart surgery at a very young age (~11 months) due to an atrial septal defect. It would be astounding if this were a viable option to avoid such drastically invasive surgery.
My dog had this procedure done when he was a puppy which saved his life. The standard procedure is to crack open the dog's chest and tie this pathway off. This is the old way of doing it; we don't do this to humans anymore as there are a lot of risks involved and it takes a long time to heal. The much more expensive but safe procedure is to go through the femoral artery. He now has a platinum coil in his heart and no longer has a femoral pulse because they tie it off.<p><a href="http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pda/" rel="nofollow">http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pda/</a>