Costa Rica’s “México” Hospital announced this week they successful conducted a state-of-the art heart valve replacement therapy called “valve in valve.”

This is the first time the procedure has been conducted in the country, and the first in all of Central America, said the hospital’s press office.

The patient, referred to as “Elizabeth” felt immediate improvements when on Wednesday she became the first Costa Rican to receive a new type of heart valve through the minimally invasive procedure.

The procedure was performed by a team of cardiologists, and cardiovascular and chest surgeons.

According to Edgar Méndez, head of the surgery at the hospital who was part of the team, Elizabeth was a challenging case because not only did she have damage to the valve that had been replaced 15 years ago at the same hospital, but prior to the replacement had had open heart surgery to correct damage to the same valve.

Because of her medical history and existing health condition, doctors felt that a third surgery was too risky in the 69-year-old, and so opted to use this novel technique which involves a small incision at the thorax to expose the tip of the heart, through which the new valve is implanted on top of the damaged valve. The procedure was performed while her heart continued to beat, and took two hours, said the hospital.

The next day, Elizabeth said she felt in excellent health, was eating normally and walking, without fatigue or losing her breath.

At this time specialists are evaluating other patients to determine if they are candidates for this procedure,  which is fully covered under the state health insurance program. This new procedure involves sophisticated technology in which the valve alone costs US$37,000 dollars, said the hospital.