by Denis Chabrol (Demerara Waves) The Caribbean Heart Institute’s (CHI) team led by CEO and Guyanese born heart surgeon Dr. Gary Stephens, successfully conducted an open-heart surgery utilising cow tissue to reconstruct a patient’s heart, the institution said Tuesday.
“This procedure is the first-ever open heart surgery of its kind, to be performed in the country,” CHI added.
CHI explained that the life-saving surgery, conducted on 24-year-old Dexter George, involved the complete removal of a cardiac tumour, partial removal of the right atrium, and the utilisation of bovine pericardium, a tissue derived from a cow’s heart, for the reconstruction of the damaged right atrium.
According to Dr. Stephens, “the procedure challenged the conventional understanding of the heart’s resilience, illustrating that substantial portions of the heart can be removed with positive outcomes”. He added, “this remarkable feat could pave the way for more aggressive approaches in similar cases, pushing beyond traditional boundaries”.
