Health Science Center professor of cardiology Steven R. Bailey, M.D., recently became one of the first doctors in the nation to use a percutaneous (through the skin) heart valve repair system to treat a patient with mitral valve regurgitation. The debilitating condition occurs when the mitral valve, which helps control the flow of blood through the heart, fails to close properly – allowing blood to leak backward. Generally, open-heart surgery is the only effective treatment for patients who suffer from the condition.
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class David Thomas did not take the news lightly when doctors diagnosed him with mitral valve regurgitation and then explained that he would need to have open-heart surgery. He was desperately in search of a less-invasive treatment that would keep him from retiring from his 19-year military career, one year short of qualifying for full benefits.
Not long after Dr. Bailey and his team at University Hospital gave Sgt. Thomas the option of a new procedure, Sgt. Thomas became the 43 patient in the world to receive it. The technique uses a novel device equipped with a small clip to help the defective mitral valve to close properly. It is hoped that this procedure could eventually eliminate the need for open-heart surgery in some patients.
The investigational technique was part of the prospective, multi-center Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge Repair Study (EVEREST Study). It is a percutaneous valve repair procedure performed in the catheterization laboratory by cardiologists. A catheter is inserted through the skin on the thigh to place the small clip on the mitral valve.
“Initial experience with the device has been promising,” Dr. Bailey said. “The technology has, for the first time, enabled the cardiologist to repair mitral regurgitation in the cardiac catheterization laboratory rather than the operating room. There is a large, unmet clinical need for less-invasive treatments for mitral regurgitation. Currently, less than 20 percent of patients with significant mitral regurgitation are operated on each year.”
After the treatment, Sgt. Thomas is doing well and is pleased with the results. He said he was glad he opted to have the innovative procedure and he is scheduled to retire from his military career in November of 2006.
The EVEREST Study is being conducted under an approved Investigational Device Exemption. The device was developed and manufactured by Evalve Inc of Redwood City, Calif.
