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In This Issue:
Andrew Eisenhauer listens to Claus Buchthal’s heart.
Less than 30 hours after undergoing percutaneous aortic valve replacement, 95-year-old Claus Buchthal rested comfortably in his bed on Shapiro 9 completing the New York Times crossword puzzle.
This month, Buchthal became BWH’s first patient to undergo this minimally invasive procedure, bringing hope to patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not healthy enough for the traditional treatment, open heart surgery. Instead, percutaneous aortic valve replacement enables interventional cardiologists to open up a deteriorated heart valve by making an incision in the patient’s leg, threading a catheter up into the heart and forcing the valve open with a balloon. A second larger catheter is used to then install the new valve.
“I feel great,” said Buchthal, a regional and national bridge champion who recently renewed his driver’s license and plans to continue his active and independent lifestyle. “I feel like I can walk out of here today.”
With this first case, BWH joins an elite group of about 25 hospitals in the country participating in the PARTNER (Placement of AoRTic TraNscathetER Valves) IDE Pivotal Trial.
“This procedure offers an alternative to patients who are too frail or high-risk to undergo open heart surgery,” said Andrew Eisenhauer, MD, director of the Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine Service, who performed the procedure along with colleagues from Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiac Anesthesia and the Catheterization Lab.
About 200,000 patients per year are afflicted with a narrowing or obstruction of the heart’s aortic valve but cannot receive open heart surgery due either to excessive risk factors or because recovering from the procedure is too risky for elderly patients.
Annie Connors, RN, a research nurse for the Cardiovascular Division, helped bring this trial to BWH by coordinating the collaborative effort between cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists. “We’re hopeful to make a substantial contribution to this study and offer patients leading technology and care that will better their lives,” said Connors.
Eisenhauer said the success of this procedure truly was a collaborative effort.
“All of the physicians involved especially thank the Cath Lab staff for their dedication, training and organization, without which this procedure would not have been possible,” said Eisenhauer.
Michael Davidson, MD, Frederick Welt, MD, Andrew Eisenhauer, MD, Wendy Gross, MD, and Nelson Thaemert, MD, stand behind Claus Buchthal, the first patient to undergo a percutaneous aortic valve replacement at BWH.