Advocate Christ first in state to use new heart valve procedure

Advocate Christ Medical Center’s Heart Valve Team is the first in the State of Illinois to use the newest generation minimally invasive heart valve to repair a damaged heart valve.

“The new technology, Tendyne™ Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI) System, is part of a research trial to treat the mitral valve in patient with severe mitral regurgitation (leaky valve) who may be at increased risk for conventional open-heart surgery,” said Dr. Ravi Ramana, medical director of Christ Medical Center’s Valve Program.

“We are enthusiastic to be a part of such an important trial regarding transcatheter valve therapy and are excited to have this option to offer our patients who qualify for this procedure. The potential success of this procedure is based on wonderful team collaboration between our patients, cardiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, research team, nurses and technicians,” said Ramana.

This new procedure is performed through a small incision in the chest, in between ribs, and uses a catheter to reach the beating heart where the device is implanted to replace the natural valve.

“This may allow another less-invasive therapeutic option for our heart patients,” said Dr. Hong Jun (Francisco) Yun, an interventional cardiologist who works on the Heart Valve Team.

Up to 80 hospitals worldwide are participating in this medical trial. The local Heart Valve Team will collect information on how safe and effective the device is to treating leaking mitral valve as compared to the other commercially available options.

“The Tendyne™, system has been used in Europe with promising results. We are interested to continue evaluation of this valve’s safety and efficacy,” said Dr. Antone Tatooles, the surgical director of the Heart Valve Program.