New transcatheter heart valve studies will be presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans on April 3 and 4. The studies compare patient outcomes from minimally invasive catheter procedures with those from open-heart surgery.
Two experts from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are available for interviews: Raj Makkar, MD, and Saibal Kar, MD. The studies compare patient outcomes from minimally invasive catheter procedures with those from open-heart surgery.
Under Dr. Makkar's leadership, physicians at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have performed more minimally invasive aortic valve replacement and/or mitral valve repair procedures than any other medical group in the United States.
Dr. Makkar, director of the Heart Institute's catheterization laboratories, is a recognized expert in cardiac procedures performed by catheter, including aortic valve replacement. Dr. Kar is an author of the study on mitral valve repair that will be released at the ACC meeting.
On April 3 at 8 a.m. CDT, new data will be presented from a multicenter, multiyear clinical study of 699 patients with severe aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the heart valve between the left ventricle of the heart and the aorta that impedes delivery of blood through the aorta to the body. The study compares one-year clinical results of patients who had transcatheter aortic valve replacement with those for high-risk patients who underwent traditional open heart surgery. Economic data also will be released, comparing the costs and benefits of catheter procedures with those of standard therapy in inoperable patients.
On April 4 at 8 a.m. CDT, two-year results from the mitral valve study will be presented, comparing the outcomes of patients who underwent catheter procedures to treat mitral regurgitation with those for patients who underwent open-heart surgery.
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