Worcester, MA, December 19, 2017 – The Saint Vincent Hospital’s Structural and Valvular Heart Disease Program now offers Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR). This is a non-surgical approach for patients with significant mitral stenosis and/or regurgitation involving a prior surgical implant of a bioprosthetic mitral valve who are high risk for a reoperation.

Saint Vincent Hospital is utilizing the Edwards SAPIEN 3 valve for the TMVR procedure.  The TMVR provides a new treatment option for patients with a deteriorating mitral valve who are at high risk for subsequent open heart surgery to replace their bioprosthetic valve.  The SAPIEN 3 valve is the only transcatheter valve approved for valve-in-valve procedures.

"I am very proud to be part of the team bringing this exciting technology to Saint Vincent Hospital,” said Dr. Joseph Hannan, Co-Director of the Structural and Valvular Heart Disease program and Director of Interventional Cardiology at Saint Vincent Hospital.  “Our cardiac program continues to make major advances in providing innovative cardiac care to the people of Central Massachusetts.”

“I believe the Edwards SAPIEN 3 transcatheter heart valve for mitral valve replacement inside a failed surgical valve replacement is a great technological breakthrough in the modern medical era,” added Dr. Robert Bojar, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Saint Vincent Hospital.  “I am thrilled that we are now able to offer this service to our patients.”

"Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the United States, killing more people every year than all forms of cancer combined,” said Jeffrey M .Welch, chief executive officer at Saint Vincent Hospital.  "Our goal is to bring new medical advances to our community, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement and transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement, which could offer better outcomes for some of our most high-risk patients.”

The Edwards SAPIEN 3 valve was approved by the FDA in 2015 for severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis patients at high risk for open-heart surgery, and, in 2016, received approval for the treatment of patients with aortic stenosis who are at intermediate risk for open-heart surgery. In 2017, the FDA approved treatment of a deteriorating bioprosthetic valve in the mitral position with the SAPIEN 3 valve. The SAPIEN 3 valve builds on Edwards' decades of experience in the development of tissue heart valves. For more information about the all cardiac services offered at Saint Vincent Hospital, visit https://www.stvincenthospital.com/our-services/heart-and-vascular-care.

###

About St. Vincent Hospital

Saint Vincent Hospital is an acute care hospital providing general and tertiary medical services to residents of Worcester and Central Massachusetts. From newborns to seniors, Saint Vincent Hospital has a wide-range of inpatient and outpatient services, including open-heart surgery, neurosurgery, cardiovascular medicine, orthopedics and the Saint Vincent Cancer and Wellness Center. Saint Vincent Hospital was founded by the Sisters of Providence and has over a century-long tradition of providing quality healthcare. It was the first hospital in Central Massachusetts to offer robotically assisted surgical procedures and minimally invasive, computer-assisted joint replacements. Saint Vincent Hospital is located at 123 Summer Street, Worcester, MA and has a variety of medical group locations throughout the region. To learn more, visit https://www.stvincenthospital.com.

 

About the Invasive Cardiac Interventional and Advanced Structural and Valvular Heart Disease Program at Saint Vincent Hospital

When minutes matter in restoring blood flow to the heart muscle, an emergency cardiac team (STEMI Team) is available 24/7 to provide emergency evaluation and treatment when a heart attack occurs.  With community emergency services, emergency room providers, and our STEMI team coordination, Saint Vincent Hospital achieved greater than a 90^th percentile response time, when compared to a national registry of over 1,000 hospitals across the country, for opening a block heart artery with a median door-to-balloon time of 48 minutes.  “We are very pleased with our STEMI Response Team’s performance this past year in exceeding the 90^th percentile in time to treatment for each of the past 4 quarters,” said Dr. Joseph Hannan, Director of Interventional Cardiology at Saint Vincent Hospital. “This represents the culmination of multiple initiatives we have undertaken to speed the delivery of life saving care to those suffering from a heart attack”.

The Advanced Structural and Valvular Heart Disease Program at Saint Vincent Hospital offers comprehensive cardiac care and advanced minimally invasive procedures including Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) and Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair (TMVr). Saint Vincent Hospital is one of a few programs in the country offering TAVR procedures with moderate sedation, versus general anesthesia, for select patients.  This minimalist approach enables the patient’s recovery process. As of December 2017, well over 225 Structural Heart procedures (TAVR & TMVr) have been performed at Saint Vincent Hospital.