Bariatric surgery could offer help for chronic disease
A new procedure is giving Victorians with heart failure a new lease on life, and is so successful some patients are no longer needing transplants.
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Victorians with heart failure are now being thrown a lifeline with the offer of weight loss surgery ahead of a heart transplant.
The health transformation that comes with a gastric band or gastric sleeve, is getting many patients previously ineligible for the life saving organ donation based on their size, into the required weight category.
And it is even resulting in some no longer needing a new heart.
Director of the Alfred’s Oesophago-Gastric and Bariatric unit, Professor Wendy Brown said given the success from the first 21 cardiac patients, they were are now looking at offering bariatric surgery to patients with other chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, sleep apnoea and in need of joint replacements.
“It’s not our first choice. Any surgery has risks, and we’d obviously prefer they have a low calorie diet, but most of these patients have tried everything,” Prof Brown said.
“Often they’re not able to exercise, they hold a lot of fluid because the heart isn’t pumping properly, and their metabolism slows down. It’s very difficult for them to shift the weight.
“We think of bariatric surgery not as weight lost surgery, but as health giving surgery.”
A study of patients admitted to hospital at least seven times a year, found that a year after weight loss surgery they had fewer hospital stays and their overall medical costs had reduced.
“In the public system we can’t offer everyone bariatric surgery the procedure, but in people with chronic diseases, sometimes obesity can help treat their other problems,” she said.
Vic Apostol was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in his mid 30s, a disease where the heart becomes enlarged and can’t pump properly.
A series of defibrillators and pacemakers kept the Shepparton father-of-two well, but about a decade later his heart started to rapidly fail and he needed an artificial heart to stay alive.
With much time spent wheelchair or bed-bound, Mr Apostol gained about 60kg to reach 150kg, which put further strain on his heart.
He underwent a lap band, which made him a stronger candidate for a new heart.
After significant weight loss, he received a heart transplant two years later.
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Now almost back to his ideal weight of 94kg, the 52-year-old is regaining his strength, planning family holidays, and a return to the pool in preparation for the Transplant Games.
“They told me the way I was going, I wasn’t going to last much longer,” Mr Apostol said.
“I didn’t care what I had to do, I wanted to see my kids grow up. I’ve got a lot of life left to live. I’m going ahead in leaps and bounds now.”