Repairing Leaky Hearts

(New York-WABC, May 29, 2006) (WABC) -- About 4 million Americans have a problem called mitral valve regurgitation. The condition can be dangerous and even deadly if it's not fixed. Now, doctors are testing a treatment that's correcting the problem without major surgery.

Seven's On Call with Dr. Jay Adlersberg.

A walk in the park is something Trevor Gatty doesn't take for granted these days. Before having a leaky heart valve repaired, this simple stroll would have left him exhausted. "I used to walk to the store, and by the time I got back, I felt quite knackered," he says.

Michael Rinaldi, M.D., says Gatty's condition caused blood to leak backward, while the heart tried to pump it forward. "When that valve becomes leaky, the heart can actually fail. It can stop pumping well and that manifests itself as trouble breathing, heart failure and can eventually lead to death," Dr. Rinaldi, an interventional cardiologist at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., tells Ivanhoe.

Mitral valve leaks are usually treated with open heart surgery, but Gatty took part in a clinical trial testing an experimental procedure that only requires a small incision in the groin.

Dr. Rinaldi says, "Using ultrasound guidance, we're able to actually grab the two leaflets of that valve and clip them together with this new small device." Once the clip is in place, blood flows normally. The new approach reduces the risk of complications, decreases pain, and dramatically shortens recovery time.

"We've been very excited with the results," Dr. Rinaldi says. "Three quarters of the patients are being helped, and that's fantastic when there was no alternative before."

For Gatty, the benefits were clear almost immediately. "About two weeks after the surgery, I suddenly found myself marching as though I was back in the Army marching around the parade ground," he says. "Just walking briskly and enjoying it." And now he can enjoy all of life's simple pleasures.

So far, 80 people have been treated with the new procedure. Typically, recovery from standard open heart surgery is one month. With this procedure, it's just a few days. Right now, the only way to have the new procedure is at one of the 25 sites around the country that are participating in the trial.

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