UVA Health comes up with new way to replace heart valves

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - UVA Health’s Heart and Vascular Center is taking a new approach to heart valve replacement.

This groundbreaking procedure can help replace a leaking valve in a less invasive way.

“There are a lot of patients who otherwise would have had no options, or still have no options, but we’re able to start reaching them much more often, much more commonly, and get them restored to their quality of life,” said UVA Health Interventional Cardiologist Doctor John Saxon.

UVA Health has a new way to fix a leaky tricuspid valve in a person’s heart. The new solution avoids open heart surgery.

“The challenge with the tricuspid valve is the open-heart surgeries available to fix this problem, it can be risky and hard to recover from,” said Saxon.

The new option works by placing a new valve through a catheter.

“And then we position it in place using ultrasound guidance and X ray and then place a new valve entirely inside the old valve,” said Saxon.

This new procedure is minimally and is less strenuous on the patient ‘s body. Patient’s only having to stay overnight and typically can recover within a week.

“That’s an extra benefit to patients that they tend to recover a little faster, because the procedure requires less. You know, we don’t have to stop the heart,” said Saxon.

UVA Health says it has done 5 of these procedures so far.

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