Thabo Bodibe
Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH), on Thursday, 27 July, performed the first sutureless aortic valve replacement on the African continent. 
Sureless aortic valve replacement is a medical procedure used to treat aortic valve disease without the need for traditional sutures using transcatheter valve technology, which shortens operation time, morbidity and length of the patient's stay in the hospital.
This improves blood flow, reduces symptoms, and shortens recovery compared to open-heart surgery.
The replacement is considered for patients who do not meet the requirements or criteria to be operated on a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI).
The surgical team was led by a visiting expert, Dr Slobodan Mićović, an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Belgrade Medical School in Serbia, and locally by Dr Itumeleng Taunyane, Head of Clinical Unit and Lead Surgeon - Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Dr Bongani Ngutshane, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon.
The Gauteng Health Department performed over 700 successful surgical procedures on Mandela Day. It is part of the continuous efforts to improve efficiencies across our centres of excellence.
CMJAH is currently doing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) for high-risk patients through percutaneous techniques, making it the only state hospital outside the Western Cape to offer the therapy.