In June, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge began offering a new option to heart patients with leaky tricuspid heart valves, a condition that doctors previously had few tools to treat.
Dr. Neal Sawlani, interventional cardiologist and chief of the Division of Cardiology, performed the hospital’s first tricuspid valve clip repair – the first in Advocate Health’s Midwest region.
“We’re very enthusiastic about it,” Sawlani said. “Before this (valve clip) device, we did not have viable options for patients. If a valve was leaking tremendously, we were not sending them to open heart surgery. It was not effective, not proficient, not very successful.”
A leaky heart valve, which can lead to congestive heart failure, ultimately became a disease or problem without treatment, he said. Doctors were largely limited to experimenting with medications, Sawlani said.
“We’re really excited to help people,” he said. “We have an opportunity to actually fix the problem. They no longer have to take medications and see what happens. They can feel better and achieve subtle care in symptoms and treatment and hopefully take care of the problem.”
A leaky tricuspid valve is also known as tricuspid regurgitation, a condition in which the valve between the two right heart chambers does not close properly, said Lauren Rohr, spokeswoman for Advocate Lutheran General. The condition can cause shortness of breath and fluid to collect in the abdomen or legs, often resulting in swelling, Rohr said.
The surgery, in which a valve clip is installed, is “minimally invasive,” she said. Doctors insert a catheter through a vein in the leg and maneuver it up to the heart, where the clip is attached to the tricuspid valve to reduce the backflow of blood, Rohr said.
“It’s actually really phenomenal,” Sawlani said. “Traditionally, the only options were open heart surgery. That does not work well for a tricuspid valve.”
Over the years, through advancements in technique and technology, researchers identified ways to address the problem without surgery, he said. The FDA approved the new procedure using the clip in April, Sawlani said.
“Once it was approved, we were fortunate enough to have a team to be able to use that device and start implanting it in our patients,” he said.
Heart valves are located between atriums, the top chambers of the heart, and ventricles, the bottom chambers, Sawlani said. On the right side of the heart, the tricuspid valve sits between the chambers, he said.
The tricuspid is supposed to open wide so blood can flow from the top to the bottom and then shut tight so blood does not go backwards, Sawlani said.
“In many cases, the valve is not working properly,” he said. “It’s dysfunctional and regurgitating. Blood can collect in the belly, legs. People can get swollen legs. Some people get fatigue.”
The clip attaches to the valve, tying to a vein so the valve can shut properly, Sawlani said.
“It’s neat because once it attaches, it stays there forever,” he said. “There’s no need for any tune-up. It’s entirely through the blood vessel, the vein. There’s an IV in the leg and we can take it out. There’s no need for incisions or surgery. They’re back up and walking in a few days.”
The procedure allows the heart to pump blood more efficiently, relieving symptoms and lowering the risk of heart complications, Sawlani said.
“The heart can move blood more efficiently, work more efficiently and stop valves from leaking so much,” he said. “It’s a safe, effective alternative for repairing the damaged valve and improving the quality of life for many of these patients.”
