(Photo by William Baker)
Five million Americans are diagnosed with valvular heart disease each year. Being diagnosed with valve disease can be stressful enough, but having to go to multiple sites for tests and consultations can be strenuous. Now St. Francis will be offering a new solution for streamlining the process — its recently opened Heart Valve Center — a one-stop destination for the screening and evaluation of valvular disease.
“There are a many options available to patients today and the choices can be confusing,” said George Petrossian, MD, director of Interventional Cardiovascular Procedures, who will co-direct the new center. “By having one central location, patients will be able to be tested and diagnosed in a single day and be confident in knowing they’ll be getting the most comprehensive care.”
“After being evaluated, patients will be able to sit with our team of cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists to a get our recommendation on what we consider the best course of treatment,” added Newell Robinson, M.D., chairman of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery and co-director of the center.
While open-heart surgery has been considered the gold standard for treating such conditions as aortic valve stenosis, doctors at St. Francis have been pioneers in a minimally invasive procedure known at Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Replacement or TAVR. Their participation in a major nationwide study called the Medtronic CoreValve Pivotal Trial led to FDA approval of a revolutionary device that offers new hope for patients who are too ill or old to undergo surgery. CoreValve, along with another similar device, the Edwards Sapien Valve, are now being offered at St. Francis for qualified patients. So far, our highly skilled physicians have performed nearly 370 TAVR procedures with excellent success rates.
The Heart Valve Center will be located in the Vizza Pavilion on the main campus of the Hospital with convenient parking close by. For more information, call 516-414-3000. —Courtesy of St. Francis Hospital
