PITTSBURGH — Heart valve disease is common: about 2.5% of adults have it in the U.S, according to the CDC. There’s s a new way to treat it that doctors in Pittsburgh just started doing.
It’s called transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement or a TTVR. It’s a minimally invasive procedure used to treat a tricuspid heart valve that leaks blood.
AHN cardiac surgeon Dr. Walter McGregor was the first doctor to perform a TTVR on a patient in Western PA in September of last year. It just became FDA-approved last February.
“I was a little nervous about being the first patient to have it done. But if it could help me, I was willing to do it,” said Adrian Wukich.
That’s because the North Huntingdon grandmother wanted to get back to being her active self.
“The first thing we do is get up and take our walk. We have two little dogs. We walk a good three miles every morning,” said Wukich. “It feels great. That’s how we start our day.”
But her tricuspid valve was leaking and starting to put a strain on her heart.
“I noticed on the hills that I was a little short of breath. It wasn’t as easy to do my walking. So, I would just take my time, slow down,” said Wukich. “And over time, it was just getting progressively worse.”
Wukich was a good candidate for the minimally invasive procedure that involves running a catheter through the groin, with a small valve attached to it.
“The anchors capture the valve leaflets to secure them and keep them out of the way as the valve continues to expand inside of it,” said Dr. McGregor.
After the procedure in September, Wukich noticed a difference right away.
“By October, we went to a football game and climbed all the stadium steps and did all the walking. And I was fine,” said Wukich.
Dr. McGregror says historically, tricuspid valve disease is treated with medications.
“And they’re the primary option still, but it’s nice to have more than just one option,” said Dr. McGregor. “When you have more options, you can treat more patients and impact more lives.”
Since doing the first TTVR on Wukich, AHN has done one a month.
“If you know you’re not feeling like yourself and you’re an active person and something’s off, something’s just not right with you, go and see your doctor,” said Wukich.
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