A woman with no family, no medical history has been given the rare condition called bariatric transplant
A woman in Australia has been diagnosed with a rare condition known as bariatric surgical resection, and has been told she may need a heart transplant.
The woman, who has not been named, has been referred to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for a specialist heart transplant following her operation in September.
The condition has been described as “complex” and the surgery is now a possibility.
“She has no family history, no history of cardiac disease, no family members, no doctor or medical record of any kind and she is on the road to recovery,” hospital spokesperson Susanne Gervais said.
“It’s a very complicated condition and there are a number of factors which have led to this.”
“The heart has had a very hard time surviving in the body, so it’s a pretty significant issue for the heart.”
“It is not something that is very common.”
A spokeswoman for the Australian Bariatric Society said the woman had no family to care for her and that the surgery had not been recommended.
“Bariatric surgery is a rare surgery where there are no complications, it is a very expensive procedure, so we don’t recommend it at this stage,” the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said the surgery was not recommended for women with diabetes, but she did not know if the woman would have complications.
“I’ve heard that it’s an uncommon procedure,” she said.
The surgery is usually performed on women aged 60 or older, but patients who have suffered a cardiac event can be treated with steroids, medications and surgery to remove the heart’s valves.
“The patient will be given the option of a normal procedure or a modified procedure where they get surgery to get the valve back,” the spokesperson said.
There is no guarantee the woman’s heart will survive the surgery, but the surgeon has warned it is possible to live with a heart valve that had been removed.
The patient has not yet been discharged from hospital.