MIRACLE TECHNIQUE: Kingsley Tofts and his family.

INNOVATIVE life-saving surgery carried out by medics at Southampton General Hospital - the first in Europe - will help scores of patients with heart defects.

Surgeons successfully operated on 16-year-old Kingsley Tofts last month using two revolutionary procedures to correct his heart pumping and rhythm.

The miracle technique uses a piece of rare equipment called a multiple balloon mapping system to control the electrical pathways in the heart.

Doctors say the procedure has the potential to benefit a large number of patients in future years.

It was developed at the city's hospital after surgeons observed experts in Chicago and only a handful of similar operations have been performed worldwide.

Kingsley, from Wokingham, Berkshire, was born without a pumping chamber and doctors had to come up with another method of transporting blood to his lungs so they could receive fresh oxygen.

He had an operation at the General Hospital in 1987. However, as he grew older there was a strain on his heart. He started suffering from attacks where his heart rate would dramatically increase to more than 180 beats per minute.

He had to take 23 tablets a day before the operation and spend most of his time in bed because of his condition.

The seven-hour operation involved correcting his blood flow so it goes straight into the artery to take it in the lungs and then correcting rhythm abnormalities.

The equipment used is only one of two sets available in Britain and was bought by Wessex Heartbeat last year for £130,000.

Cardiologist Dr John Morgan said: "The heart has two components, a machine which pumps blood around the body and an electrical system."

He said the procedure involved pinpointing the abnormal parts of the system by cooling them by minus 60 degrees C to allow surgery to continue and get the heart beat back to normal.

Consultant cardiac surgeon Marcus Haw said: "The pioneering element of the operation is the elec-trical rhythm changes and the way we could identify precisely the pin-points."

Dad Keith Tofts said they were apprehensive about the operation at first but they knew without the operation Kingsley eventually would have died. He added: "We are relieved it has all gone so smoothly. It is a miracle it has all been good so far and he is hoping to come home later this week."

Tottenham fan Kingsley is expected to make a recovery within six to nine months and lead a relatively normal life.

He said: "I am looking forward to getting back to school and playing football."

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