
Bolivian women knit parts for hearts - morpheous
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32076070
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mfoy_
>"The most important thing is that we try to get really really simple
solutions for complex problems," Dr Freudenthal told the BBC.

I still think the coolest part is that this knitted thing is inserted into
your groin and it ends up unfolding in your heart.

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bpg_92
I used to work there as an engineer, Dr Freudenthal was by far the best person
I've ever known.

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Mz
_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.

"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."_

The concept and entire article are both nifty.

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Asbostos
It may have practical short term benefits but bending medicine to suit culture
is not generally great. If somebody invented a way to prevent measles without
a vaccine. It might be a good idea but not for the reason that it respects the
will of parents who don't want their children vaccinated for "cultural" (i.e.
superstitious) reasons.

~~~
dragonwriter
> It may have practical short term benefits but bending medicine to suit
> culture is not generally great.

Medicine treats people, and people have culture. Adapting medicine to address
cultural concerns is potentially as beneficial as any other adaptation to the
actual patient you are trying to treat, rather than some idealized patient
that doesn't actually match the one that's in front of you.

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eric_the_read
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.

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akiselev
I was born with the same defect and had noninvasive heart surgery to close it
over a decade ago, shortly after the procedure was approved. I'm not sure it
can be done for toddlers, though definitely at a young age (I was 12).

I don't remember what it is called (I believe it's a mini thorocatomy) but
they used a camera through my esophagus and a catheder inserted through the
vein in my leg to inject the device to close the hole with no open heart
surgery, only a few days recovery time in the hospital, and a few months
before I was finally able to play most sports.

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feld
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.

[http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-
topics/topics/pda/](http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pda/)

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pen2l
Holy shit, that is awesome.

