Ukrainian surgeons successfully remove metal fragment from soldier’s heart

On October 30, Ukrainian doctors performed an extremely difficult operation: they removed a metal fragment from the heart of a serviceman.

The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces reported this.

The serviceman received a mine-explosive injury on October 24 during hostilities in the Donetsk region. In the area of his heart, a foreign body of metallic density measuring 7X6X5.5 mm was visualized. The patient has been preparing for the operation for three days.

^{Photo: General Staff}

"The operation turned out to be difficult, the fragment got stuck in an important structure of the heart. But thanks to the professionalism of the doctors at all stages of the medical evacuation, the patient was saved!

The fragment was located in the interventricular membrane, topographically very close to the valves, so it had to be removed immediately. The operation was carried out under conditions of artificial blood circulation; the heart had to be completely stopped," the report says.

It was possible to get the metal fragment thanks to an innovative technique – a neodymium magnet. This technique was developed together with civilian doctors and has already saved the lives of 96 military personnel.