DR. SURAJ SAGGAR
DR. SAGGAR: PROVIDED BY HOLY NAME MEDICAL CENTER; DR. KAPLE: PROVIDED BY HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH HACKENSACK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH HACKENSACK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
NEW SOLUTION IN CARDIAC CARE
For 1.5 million Americans— many ofwhom live in the New York-New Jersey area— living with aleaky heart valve can be seriously challenging. The condition, known astricuspid regurgitation( TR), causes fatigue, shortness ofbreath, swelling in the legs and abdomen, and liver or kidney failure. Patients with significant tricuspid regurgitation may be looking at shorter life expectancies if the condition isn’ t treated.
TR occurs when the valve between the two right heart chambers— ventricle and atrium— doesn’ t close properly, allowing blood to flow
DR. RYAN KAPLE
backward into the right atrium of the heart. Depending on the severity of the case, treatment for the condition was until recently limited to open heart surgery, which carries high risks for these patients, and medications that usually fall short of improving quality oflife.
Now there’ sanew approach that’ sproven safer and more effective: The structural heart disease teams at Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center and Jersey Shore University Medical Center have performed their first state-of-the-art catheter-based procedures to repair and replace the tricuspid valve. There are two of these first-of-their-kind devices: the TriClip transcatheter edge-to-edge repair system( TEER), and the EVOQUE transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement system( TTVR).
During aminimally invasive procedure, one of the devices isdelivered to the heart through acatheter that is inserted through the femoral vein in the leg. This approach allows the heart to pump blood more efficiently and to relieve symptoms of TR. Patients who have undergone the procedure may spend as few as two days in the hospital before going home to begin cardiac rehabilitation and, eventually, toresume an active lifestyle.
“ Our early adoption and experience using TriClip means we can offer this new, minimally invasive treatment option to our patients with tricuspid valve regurgitation months or years before itbecomes available at other centers,” says Dr. Ryan K. Kaple, director of the Hackensack University Medical Center Structural and Congenital Heart Program.
@ 201magazine( 201) HEALTH 2025 EDITION
15