Flaherty, U of L doctors offer new aortic valve replacement procedure
New method performed in collaboration with Jewish Hospital.
Dr. Michael Flaherty of the U of L Division of Cardiovascular Medicine is director of research-interventional cardiology.
A new treatment that University of Louisville physicians are performing at Jewish Hospital is helping some people with severe aortic stenosis – also known as narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart – who are not well enough to undergo open heart surgery.
A team that included U of L cardiologists Michael Flaherty, M.D, Ph.D., Naresh Solankhi, M.D., and U of L cardiothoracic surgeon Matthew Williams, M.D., performed the first transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR) procedure on a 47-year-old male patient Dec. 21, 2011.
"For patients who qualify, the TAVR procedure is often their last hope for treatment of their heart disease," Flaherty, director of research-interventional cardiology in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine said. "It's a unique procedure, and we are once again proud to be on the cutting edge of heart care in the region."
