A grandfather has become the first person in the UK to have a new “game-changing” form of heart surgery.

Andrew Kiln, from Ramsgate, is only the second person in Europe to recieve a modern implant to fix leaky valves in the vital organ.

Mr Kiln, 76, had a mitral valve replacement implant at St Thomas’ Hospital in London in a procedure that lasted around an hour.

It is said that the new procedure could involve less risk – especially for older or more frail patients – and may enable patients to recover faster which can mean a much shorter stay in hospital.

Led by Professor Simon Redwood, honorary consultant cardiologist, and Dr Tiffany Patterson, consultant cardiologist, the team at Guy’s and St Thomas’ operated on Andrew using a SAPIEN M3 mitral valve replacement implant as part of a clinical trial.

Doctors made a small cut in his groin and inserted a catheter (tube) into the vein and up through his body to the right side of the heart. Making a small hole, they passed the catheter into the left side of his heart. Special tubing was then inserted into the body through this catheter.

This wrapped around the faulty valve flaps to create a secure docking point, then the new heart valve implant was inserted inside the docking point and expanded with a balloon mechanism to create the new mitral valve.

Mr Kiln, a football-mad grandad-of-seven who is well-known for refereeing matches in his home town,was suffering from a condition called mitral regurgitation, a type of heart valve disease where the mitral valve, which separates the upper left atrium from the lower left ventricle in the heart, doesn’t close properly and as a result blood leaks back across the valve.

This condition affects one in 50 adults in the UK and 10 percent of people aged over 75. It can cause symptoms including dizziness, breathlessness and fatigue and over time can make the heart dilate, ultimately shortening a person’s life expectancy.

Conventional treatment for this condition is open-heart surgery, which involves risks, a lengthy hospital stay including time in intensive care, and can take patients months to fully recover – and having had similar surgery previously, Mr Kiln was unlikely to be able to have it again.

However, the new procedure saw him up and walking around the ward within 48 hours, and discharged soon after.

He said: “I didn’t have strong symptoms of the mitral regurgitation – I was refereeing football matches up until the weekend before my latest surgery. But the doctors told me it would get worse and they said this new implant could sort me out.

“I’ve been really well treated at St Thomas’ since 2000, so I trusted them. Now I’ve had it done, I’m pleased as punch. I can’t fault anything at all – even the food was good. I’m looking forward to getting back to the gym and seeing all my friends there.”

Dr Patterson said: “This minimally invasive procedure is game-changing. It gives patients a much quicker, smoother recovery, with a far shorter hospital stay of just a few days instead of months.

"It’s potentially safer, patients may need much less rehabilitation and it could be cheaper overall for the NHS. It’s potentially transformative for patients with heart valve disease, particularly for those like Andrew who would otherwise be turned down for conventional surgery.”