A PIONEERING medical procedure has given an elderly motor cyclist a new lease of life.

Brian Troop, 78, had lived for years with a ticking time bomb in the shape of an aortic aneurysm, a swelling of his main blood vessel.

He was the first patient to undergo a particularly difficult procedure at Northwick Park Hospital.

It avoided the need for open surgery by replacing a large portion of the aorta and its vital branches from inside the body.

Long instruments were guided through the arteries to deliver a tailor-made jacket to support the distended aorta that was threatening to burst.

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The medical team also reconstructed multiple branches of the aorta, which naturally weakens with age.

Prof Martin Malina, an endovascular specialist at the West London Vascular and Interventional Centre, said: “It’s highly unlikely Mr Troop would have been offered the surgical option because of his age..

“It is extremely traumatic and involves incising almost the entire side of a patient’s body, with a lengthy hospital stay and recovery period.

“Mr Troop was out of hospital within a week after this minimally invasive procedure with little ill-effect. I understand he is back on his 1,200 cc motor bike and raring to go already.

“Patients often have no prior symptoms of an aneurysm - a swelling on the artery walls - until it suddenly bursts and can be fatal. Mr Troop had the Rolls Royce of aneurysms.”