Mt Waverley man possibly oldest person to have heart valve replaced

A 99-YEAR-OLD Mt Waverley man who had a heart valve replaced is quite possibly the oldest man in the world to undergo the surgery.

Stasys (Stan) Eimutis and Professor Ian Meredith at Monash Medical Centre. Mr Eimutis is celebrating his 99th birthday after his aortic valve replacement.

STAN Eimutis is quite possibly the oldest person in the world to have a heart valve replaced.

The Mt Waverley man received a new aortic valve on Monday — just two days before his 99th birthday.

Director of MonashHeart, Professor Ian Meredith, used a transcatheter procedure to wedge an expandable replacement valve into the damaged aortic valve’s place.

Professor Meredith said Mr Eimutis was the oldest person he knew to have the procedure in Australia — and possibly the world.

The procedure, done under light sedation, took 40 minutes, and Mr Eimutis was soon sitting up enjoying a cuppa.

“I feel okay, much happier now,” Mr Eimutis said.

He said the procedure was worth the risk, given he had often been puffed walking up the hill to the bus.

“I had chest pain and could not walk very well,” he said. “Now I think it’s much better.”

Mr Eimutis, who moved to Australia from Lithuania in 1949, lives independently and still enjoys gardening and building in his workshop.

He is passionate about building kanklės, a Lithuanian plucked string instrument.

“I am a handyman and was a band leader,” he said. “It is a good life.”

Professor Meredith said Mr Eimutis was in remarkably good health for his age and had coped well with the procedure.

Mr Eimutis was admitted to hospital after a small heart attack, caused by severe narrowing of the aorta.

Professor Meredith, who hopes to discharge Mr Eimutis by the end of the week, thought he should celebrate his extraordinary patient’s longevity by baking birthday cakes — healthy flourless orange — to celebrate his 99th birthday on April 29.

“Baking the cakes was far more taxing than performing the (heart) procedure,” Professor Meredith said.

And Mr Eimutis appreciated the gesture.

“The doctors and staff here, they have become like family,” he said.