‘Ticking time bomb’: rare heart surgery saves pregnant Hong Kong mother and twins

A team of doctors in Hong Kong successfully saved the life of a pregnant woman carrying twins, who was suffering from an “extremely rare” and life-threatening heart condition, the first such case in the city for more than 20 years.

The challenging surgery on the pregnant patient, who was diagnosed with aortic dissection, was performed in June last year.

The medical team completed the operation in under five hours to minimise risk for the patient, significantly shorter than the usual eight to ten hours, according to doctors from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prince of Wales Hospital on Wednesday.

Tiffany Chen, who was 25 weeks pregnant, was admitted to the hospital after experiencing chest pain and difficulty breathing.

She was diagnosed with aortic dissection, a fatal condition described by gynaecologist Liona Poon Chiu-yee as a “ticking time bomb” inside the body, which can rapidly deteriorate in minutes or even seconds.

Poon said that aortic dissection is a rare but life-threatening heart condition where a tear occurred in the aorta’s inner layer, allowing blood to flood the tear and potentially cause it to rupture.