New Heart Valve Treatment Offered
Leaders
of University of Iowa Heart and Vascular Center announced on December 13 that their
heart valve team will soon be the first in the state to offer a new,
cutting-edge treatment for seriously ill patients affected by severe heart
valve problems.
The
new technology uses a catheter inserted through a small incision in a patient’s thigh that travels
through blood vessels and can be used to replace a person’s failing heart valve in
the aortic artery.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the
treatment, called the SAPIEN percutaneous heart valve replacement, manufactured
by Edwards LifeSciences.
The
technology is reserved for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are
considered too high risk for traditional forms of heart valve replacement
surgery, or were previously considered inoperable.
In
October, UI Heart and Vascular Center became the first program in the nation to
receive certification for its cardiac valve program from The Joint Commission,
the accreditation agency for health care organizations in the United States.
In
addition to the new transcatheter procedure, the center’s heart valve clinic,
established more than three years ago, offers minimally invasive surgery for
heart valve repair and replacement.
The UI
Heart and Vascular Center team plans to complete the training for the new
treatment late in December and to begin treating patients early in 2012.
For more information, call 319-384-6245 or visit online at www.uihealthcare.org/heart.