Community Healthcare System Specialists First in Region to Perform Complex Minimally-Invasive Heart Valve Procedure

community-healthcare-system-specialists-first-in-region-to-perform-complex-minimally-invasive-heart-valve-procedureCardiovascular specialists of Community Healthcare System have successfully performed the first transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) procedure in Northwest Indiana. This highly-complex minimally invasive technique, completed Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Community Hospital in Munster, provides a new treatment option for patients who have undergone a previous mitral valve replacement but are not candidates for another open heart surgery.

Structural and Interventional Cardiologist Hussam Suradi, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgeon Amjad Syed, MD, and Interventional Cardiologist Samer Abbas, MD, led the team performing the procedure. The TMVR team at Community Healthcare System also includes Cardiothoracic Surgeons Cris Carlos, MD, and Michael Eng, MD.

During the TMVR procedure, a catheter is inserted into the groin and threaded through the femoral vein up to the defective heart valve. The new mitral valve is inflated inside the old valve, using the surgical frame to secure it in place. TMVR is a less invasive alternative approach to open heart surgery that does not require the patient to be placed on a bypass machine to breathe or a large incision down the center of the chest.

“The average lifespan of a replaced mitral valve is about 10 to 15 years,” said Suradi. “When valves degenerate, patients traditionally have undergone another open heart surgery to replace them. Through TMVR, we can eliminate the need for a second open heart in patients who are too ill to undergo another major surgery.”

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June 2017, TMVR had been previously available only at academic medical centers. Now available at Community Hospital, the state-of-the-art hybrid operating room with advanced interventional imaging systems enables physicians to perform highly complex procedures such as TMVR. The hybrid OR provides real-time image guidance along with continual medical assessment of a patient’s condition during the procedure.

Find out more about the medical services available to treat heart conditions at Community Healthcare System by visiting comhs.org/heart.