Emory Healthcare, in collaboration with Emory School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, performed the world’s first minimally invasive coronary artery bypass technique without open-heart surgery, according to an announcement on Apr. 3.
The new procedure offers hope for patients who have limited or no other treatment options. The approach is significant because it avoids traditional open-heart surgery, potentially reducing recovery time and risk for high-risk patients.
The medical team included Emory cardiovascular surgeons Adam Greenbaum, MD and Vasilis Babliaros, MD; Christopher Bruce, MBChB, adjunct assistant professor of cardiology at Emory School of Medicine; and Robert Lederman, MD from the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Intervention at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NIH. “This was a collaborative effort to bring an off-label use of medical devices to provide compassionate care for patients with little to no other options,” said Greenbaum.
Greenbaum and Babliaros had been researching ways to treat structural heart disease when they teamed up with Bruce and Lederman. Their joint work focused on preventing artery blockages that can occur after heart valve replacement—a rare but often deadly complication. “The animal research was translated into being accomplishable for human care,” said Babaliaros.
The procedure—known as VECTOR—involves guiding electric wires through a catheter inserted into the groin instead of opening the chest. The wire is directed into a coronary artery at risk of blockage before being maneuvered outward through a vein in the leg using another catheter. This creates a continuous pathway that allows advanced tools to be guided precisely into place. “Our team then creates a new, safer entrance point for blood flow to the heart using a stent to connect the openings, forming a new route for blood to travel,” explained Greenbaum.
Babaliaros emphasized that access to less invasive alternatives is crucial: “Access to a minimally invasive alternative is vital in cases such as this. We want to offer hope for those who have no hope.” The findings suggest that future treatments may become safer and less invasive for people facing similar risks.
