Researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) and the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) seek to improve the Wheatley aortic valve, a device that could help the lives of millions of people affected by aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the opening of the aortic valve that blocks the flow of blood from the left ventricle to the aorta.
Aortic stenosis is common among the elderly and, in severe cases, the only viable alternative to guarantee an improvement in the patient's quality of life is a transplant of the dysfunctional natural valve with an artificial one.
The studies have already won this year's USP Post-Doc Award, in the area of exact and earth sciences, for Unicamp professor Hugo Luiz Oliveira, a member of the group of researchers.
The improvement of the Wheatley aortic valve is important because it should eliminate the need for anticoagulant medications in the postoperative phase, as is the case with other polymeric valves.
Anticoagulants are used to “thin” the blood, that is, they prevent the formation of clots and facilitate blood circulation. This type of drug treatment requires extreme care and attention from the patient, especially when bleeding occurs that can lead to other complications.
The research, developed within the scope of the Center for Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry (CeMEAI), consists of computational modeling of the device that replaces the natural aortic valve in patients with severe cases of the disease. CeMEAI is a Research, Innovation and Diffusion Center (Cepid) supported by Fapesp and based at the Institute of Mathematical and Computing Sciences of the University of São Paulo (ICMC-USP), São Carlos campus.
Read the full article published on the Agência Fapesp website.
