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Using a special needle to puncture the septum, doctors carried out the valve repair while the heart continued beating.
By Shula Rosen
Doctors at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikvah have carried out a world-first emergency mitral valve repair on a heart transplant recipient in cardiogenic shock, marking a major medical milestone.
The patient, 47-year-old Simon Fischler, underwent a heart transplant at age 14 and had lived far longer than his doctors originally predicted.
Two months ago, he was admitted to the hospital’s Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in severe heart failure.
His condition deteriorated rapidly, with his blood pressure dropping as the transplanted heart’s muscle failed and the mitral valve began leaking.
“Simon presented to us in an urgent catastrophe,” Prof. Leor Perl, head of the hospital’s Catheterization Institute, explained to the Times of Israel. “The myocardium had stopped working, the mitral valve was leaking severely, and he was crashing.” Perl said the medical team decided to attempt a procedure that was their last option.
Together with Dr. Amos Levy, Dr. Yaron Shapira, Dr. Ben Cohen, and Dr. Ben-Ben Avraham, the doctors accessed Fischler’s heart through the femoral vein.
Using a special needle to puncture the septum, they carried out the valve repair while the heart continued beating. The approach was minimally invasive yet unprecedented in such a critical case.
The results were immediate. Within hours, Fischler stabilized, and by the next day he was breathing on his own. Two days later, he was discharged from the hospital.
“We knew him and his family for many years,” said Perl. “Seeing him recover so quickly was extraordinary.”
From his home in Kibbutz Elrom, Fischler expressed gratitude: “I am very grateful to the team of doctors. I’ve been very lucky to have a heart that meshed with my body for as long as it has.”
According to the Israel Heart Society, about 180,000 Israelis live with heart failure, with roughly 30 to 40 heart transplants performed annually. Advances in transplant care mean many patients now survive decades beyond expectations. Fischler’s case, doctors say, represents both medical innovation and the enduring strength of Israel’s transplant program.
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