Structural Heart Procedures
Premier Health’s team of structural heart specialists focuses on your heart health as our top priority. Our team of cardiologists, electrophysiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists and other specialists provide you the benefit of their shared expertise in the unique structure of the organ that gives life with every beat.
Our team also includes advanced practice providers such as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and physician assistants, who work closely with patients and families – from exams to recovery.
The Premier Health Structural Heart Team benefits patients with their combined years of education, training, and experience with advanced medical techniques and technologies – and a commitment to shared decision-making and open communication with patients, their families, and referring health care providers.
What Is Structural Heart Disease?
Structural heart diseases involve the heart’s anatomy, or structures — valves, chambers, walls, and pockets. When these parts are not shaped correctly, or damaged, blood flow can be altered. This can lead to serious complications such as stroke , heart failure, or sudden cardiac arrest.
Some of these conditions are present from birth. Others can be acquired later in life.
It’s been estimated that one in eight individuals 75 years or older have a moderate to severe structural disease.
Structural heart diseases include valves that don’t open and close properly (aortic stenosis , ormitral valve regurgitation), abnormal openings between heart chambers (ventricular septal defect), or an open pocket in the upper left chamber of the heart (left atrial appendage) that can increase stroke risk for certain patients with atrial fibrillation. Most of these diseases are progressive, making symptoms more severe and complications more likely as you age.
Innovative Structural Heart Services Provided By Premier Health
Until recently, the only way to treat moderate to severe structural heart disease was with open-chest surgery. Since the creation of the Structural Heart Program, Premier Health has been the first Southwest Ohio provider to bring many recently Federal Drug Administration-approved medical advancements that use nonsurgical, minimally invasive and catheter-based procedures to our community.
Structural heart procedures provided by Premier Health include:
- Alcohol septal ablation, which treats hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with catheter-based technology
- Atrial septal defect transcatheter repair, which closes an opening between the heart’s upper chambers, the left and right atria, without surgery
- Balloon valvuloplasty, which uses a transcatheter approach to widen stiff and narrow aortic or mitral heart valves. The procedure uses a catheter with an inflatable balloon. This therapy can be effective for children, teens, and young people. For older adults, whose stiffened and narrowed valve (stenosis) is caused by atherosclerosis, valvuloplasty is generally used as a temporary measure until a repair or replacement can be performed.
- The WATCHMAN Device is a one-time, catheter-based intervention that offers certain patients living with atrial fibrillation the opportunity to reduce their stroke risk and eliminate blood-thinning medication from their daily routine. This medically advanced technology uses a permanent implant device that can block blood flow from going into the area of the heart, the left atrial appendage, where blood is most likely to pool during episodes of atrial fibrillation. This prevents blot clot formation, avoids AFib-related stroke damage, and removes the need for blood thinner therapy.
- MitraClip® transcatheter mitral valve repair, which is a catheter-based technology that uses a small clip attached to the mitral valve to treat degenerative mitral valve regurgitation. MitraClip® allows the mitral valve to close more completely, helping to restore normal blood flow through the heart. It’s a less invasive treatment option for patients who are not good candidates for surgery.
- Paravalvular leak transcatheter closure, a procedure that stops leakage between a replacement valve and natural heart tissue without an open-chest procedure. This condition most commonly affects the mitral valve but can also occur in replacement aortic and tricuspid valves.
- Patent foramen ovale transcatheter closure, a nonsurgical approach for repairing a patent foramen ovale, a hole in the heart that didn’t close at birth
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR, a catheter-based technology that delivers and positions a fully expandable, bioprosthetic replacement aortic valve while the heart is still beating. TAVR eliminates the need for a long incision in the chest wall, makes the use of a heart-lung bypass machine unnecessary, and provides a shorter, more comfortable recovery period, compared to a surgical aortic valve replacement.
- Ventricular Septal Defect Transcatheter Repair repairs an opening between the heart’s lower chambers, the left and right ventricles, without surgery. A ventricular septal defect may be present from birth or can occur after a heart attack.
Contact Us
Every moment of your life depends on a strong, healthy heart. The Premier Health cardiology and vascular services team is here to help you, each beat of the way, with prevention, diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitation services in our hospitals, outpatient centers, and medical offices across Southwest Ohio.