LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Specialists at the Norton Heart and Vascular Institute made history this week in Louisville using a first-of-its-kind heart procedure.
The EVOQUE transcatheter tricuspid heart valve replacement is used on patients with debilitating tricuspid regurgitation, which happens when the tricuspid valve fails to close properly during heart contractions, leaking blood into the right side of the heart. If left untreated, it can lead to heart failure and liver congestion.
"Up to 80% of people can have some degree of tricuspid regurgitation," Dr. D. Sean Stewart, interventional cardiologist and medical director of interventional and structural cardiology at Norton Heart and Vascular, said in a news release. "Symptoms can be insidious, starting with fatigue and shortness of breath, but eventually develop to swelling of the feet and even pulsations in the neck."
The new procedure uses a catheter to guide a replacement valve through a small incision.
Previously, the only treatment option was open heart surgery. This new technique saves patients a lot of recovery time.
"Obviously, that's an intense procedure with more risk," Stewart said. "We try to reserve that for when people are undergoing additional procedures for other valvular heart abnormalities."
Specialists used the technique for the first time in Kentucky on Tuesday. Officials said it's the first transcatheter therapy to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with symptomatic severe tricuspid regurgitation.
To learn more about the Norton Heart and Vascular Institute, click here.
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