LVH Will Be Among First To Implant New Heart Valve

will be among the first hospitals in the United States to use a new catheter-based device to repair diseased hearts that is less invasive, giving hope to thousands of high-risk patients unable to get open-heart surgery, the hospital announced Thursday.

LVH expects to begin implanting the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve in April, according to a news release. The SAPIEN valve was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November and is the only commercially available heart valve of its type in the country.

“We are honored to be among the nation’s premier heart programs chosen to offer this new technology to our patients,” Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of LVHN’s cardiothoracic surgery program said in a statement.

“Our network’s team of heart experts considers this catheter-based aortic valve one of the most exciting, innovative advancements for heart patients since the development of coronary stent therapy,” Singer said.

LVH expects to complete a specially designed operating room in February where a team will conduct the procedure. The SAPIEN valve is inserted into the patient’s diseased aortic valve via a catheter introduced through a tiny incision in the groin. The procedure is referred to as transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR. Inserting the valve through an incision between the ribs is still under FDA review and is not approved for commercial use in the United States, according to Edwards Lifesciences, the maker of the SAPIEN valve.

Patients are being evaluated currently at LVHN for eligibility to receive the new valve.

“This less-invasive, catheter-based aortic valve procedure gives hope to persons in our region who are otherwise too high-risk for conventional open-heart aortic valve replacement surgery," said Dr. Ronald Freudenberger, LVHN's chief of cardiology and medical director of its Heart and Vascular Center.

"By having this life-improving treatment at Lehigh Valley Health Network, patients can remain close to home and family, and avoid the rigors of out-of-town travel,” he said.

• Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States suffer from aortic stenosis, a progressive disease of the aortic valve.
• Some 250,000 of these patients suffer from severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, which often includes symptoms that can restrict normal day-to-day activities such as walking short distances or climbing stairs. Many of these patients are not treated because they are deemed ineligible for surgery, have not received a definitive diagnosis or they delay or decline the surgery.

Physicians with patients ineligible for open-heart aortic valve surgery may refer them to LVHN’s team for evaluation for the SAPIEN valve by calling 610-402-CARE.

LVHN’s heart program is one of the largest in Pennsylvania, completing nearly 12,000 cardiac catheterization procedures and nearly 1,000 heart surgeries—including 400 valve procedures--each year, the hospital said.

This is an edited version of the original story that was published.