Valley hospital takes part in heart procedure trial; some patients already seeing improvements
Some patients seeing results following trial heart procedure
It's a procedure that some day could become a common cardiology practice, and a Valley hospital is testing it out on patients. FOX 10's Bailey Miller reports.
PHOENIX - About 650,000 people die from heart disease every year, but a groundbreaking heart procedure could help bring those number down.
The procedure is being performed at St. Joseph's Hospital. The Phoenix hospital is one of a few hospitals in the United States to take part in the trial, and is also the first hospital in the Southwest to do so.
Patient sees results
Nowadays, 87-year-old Carol Jackson is feeling better than ever.
"Walking across the house, carrying the laundry, I could lose me breath," said Jackson. "Doing simple things, like twisting the wrong way, I could feel the breath gone. That is all behind me now."
Jackson, who was diagnosed with Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation, which involves leaking on the right side valve that delivers blood to the lungs. Carol underwent the trial procedure at the Heart and Vascular Institute ad Dignity Health.
"This is going to change people's lives," said Dr. Hursh Naik, a Cardiologist at St. Joseph's Hospital. "It is going to change the cardiology practice."
Dr. Naik performed the procedure on Carol. He said there previously wasn't a procedure to fix this kind of problem, and if the trial is proven to be successful, it could replace open-heart surgery.
"For the first time, now we have a way of treating the mechanical issue with a repair, meaning we clip the leaflets, and it is a true repair without doing open-heart surgery," said Dr. Naik.
Dr. Naik says it is made possible by an incision in the groin, based on X-Ray and ultrasound. Meanwhile, Jackson says he is thankful that he can finally walk every day again, and that he didn't have to undergo open-heart surgery to get there.
"I am well enough to do 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 miles at a time without breathing problems, so that is great," said Jackson.
Doctors say the procedure only takes an hour, and downtime is minimal. They say it will take a couple of years to gather data and monitor patients. If proven successful, this could become common practice one day.