There is some good news for patients suffering with a leaky heart valve. Doctors at a local hospital are using a minimally invasive procedure to fix the problem, and that means no more open-heart surgery. 7Healthcast Reporter Dr. Deanna Lites is here to explain.
About four million people in this country suffer from mitral regurgitation. That's where the blood leaks backward through the mitral valve with each heartbeat. Doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital are one of about 30 centers around the country trying a new, simpler procedure to treat this condition.
The mitral valve separates two chambers in the heart: the left atrium from the left ventricle. If the mitral valve doesn't work properly and blood leaks backwards, it's called mitral regurgitation, which leaves patients fatigued and short of breath.
Cardiac surgeon Dr. Michael Davidson says left untreated patients with mitral regurgitation can suffer serious complications.
"You can get heart rhythm disorders which can cause blood clots and strokes. You can have your heart muscle get worse and worse function, and so by the time you develop symptoms, you've lost some heart function," Dr. Davidson said.
The traditional treatment is open heart surgery to repair the valve.
"That's a sternum splitting operation in which the patient gets put on a heart lung machine, the heart is stopped and the mitral valve is either repaired surgically or replaced," said Dr. Andrew Eisenhauer, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Now, doctors at Brigham & Women's Hospital are offering a new, minimally invasive technique as part of a nationwide study. Doctors use a catheter to reach the heart valve.
"And that can allow us to manipulate a small clip which can actually clip the mitral leaflets together to help in some cases control or cure the mitral regurgitation," Dr. Eisenhower said, "So rather than having a big incision and stopping the heart, this is done through small punctures in the arteries and veins with the heart still beating."
This makes it easier for both doctors and patients.
With the minimally invasive procedure, patients usually spend one night in the hospital compared to about five nights with open heart surgery, and there's also less pain involved.
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