“I was so impressed with the care I received" - Pioneering surgery set to benefit patients in Wolverhampton
Patients in Wolverhampton can now benefit from pioneering cardiac surgery, enabling them to recover more quickly and spend less time in hospital.
Tracy Jones is one patient who was referred to the team at the Heart and Lung Centre at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust after she experienced shortness of breath and high blood pressure.
The grandmother of five was then told she needed a valve replacement due to the narrowing of the aortic heart valve.
Mr Mahmoud Abdelaziz and Mr Nicolas Nikolaidis, Consultant Cardiac Surgeons at New Cross Hospital, are trained to offer this surgery.
Mr Abdelaziz said without treatment, this condition leads to heart failure, and 50 per cent of patients don’t live beyond two to three years.
He said: “Tracy was assessed for the suitability for minimally invasive surgery called an Anterior Right Thoracotomy aortic valve replacement (ART).
“It requires only a 5cm incision on the right side of the chest between the ribs, thereby avoiding cutting through the breastbone.
“In the majority of patients, it has a recovery time of less than three weeks, compared to a recovery time of eight weeks to three months for traditional open surgery, which involves sawing through the breastbone with a long incision being made down to the top of the tummy.”
Tracy was operated on on September 5, 2025 and discharged five days later.
The 61-year-old from Oswestry said: “I was so impressed with the care I received. The staff were absolutely fantastic and explained everything to me. I felt so at ease during a frightening time.
“They were all brilliant, and I am so grateful to the team for giving me my life back.
“I feel so much better now and more in control. I also have two yearly check-ups, which give me peace of mind and I would recommend the Heart and Lung Centre to anyone.”
Her husband Glyn Jones said the initial diagnosis was “scary.”
He said: “To be told she only had a life expectancy of four years before the operation was so scary so we knew we had to have the operation.
“Initially I thought we would be looking at a six-month recovery period but to have that changed to a matter of weeks has really made a difference to our lives.
“We were planning for six months so I can’t believe she could recover so quickly from major heart surgery. It was the best thing to happen to us and we are so grateful. The whole experience was outstanding and so personal.”
Mr Abdelaziz added: “The main benefit of the minimally invasive ART surgery is that recovery is rapid – there is no big cut, minimal bleeding and no damage to the breastbone.
“This means there is a shorter stay in hospital and patients can get back to normal activity quickly. For example, they can drive within two weeks and potentially be back at work as well, depending on the nature of their job.”
