Cardiovascular diseases

For the first time in Belgium, a team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons have replaced a mitral heart valve by a prosthetic valve in a minimally invasive way. Until recently this was only possible with cardiac surgery and the use of a heart-lung machine for which not all patients qualify.

On Thursday 28 May UZ Leuven implanted a new type of wireless minipacemaker in a patient. This was a first in Europe. The new generation minipacemakers allows two times as many patients qualify for this, in comparison with the first generation.

An international research project led by UZ Leuven and the KU Leuven is one of the four shortlisted projects competing for a 35 million euro award of the British Heart Foundation. The objective of the project is to develop smart wearable sensors and other technology for heart diseases.