Structural Heart Care
When you have a heart problem, don’t take chances. Choose expert diagnosis and treatment for structural heart disease at Montage Health. You'll be in good hands with our experienced specialists who perform advanced, minimally invasive treatments.
What is structural heart disease?
Structural heart disease means you have a problem that affects your heart’s valves, muscles, chambers, or chamber walls. Some people are born with structural heart problems, and others get them later in life. You can develop this kind of heart disease due to illness or aging.
When you have structural heart damage, your heart must work harder to pump blood well. This can lead to:
Diagnosing structural heart disease
Your doctor may order one or more heart and vascular diagnostic and imaging tests to diagnose or confirm structural heart disease, including:
- Chest X-ray
- Echocardiogram
- Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG)
- Computed tomography (CT) scan
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Cardiac catheterization
Less invasive, advanced treatments
Many of our structural heart treatments are minimally invasive surgical procedures that use advanced techniques and technology for your best outcome. Your heart doctor uses a catheter instead of opening your chest to work on your heart. A catheter is a long, thin tube doctors insert in your upper thigh and thread up to your heart. Minimally invasive procedures may allow you to recover faster and with less pain.
Structural heart treatments
After diagnosis, you and your doctor will talk about and decide on the best treatment options for your condition. Ask questions and let your doctor know about your treatment concerns. Depending on your condition, you may have one of the following treatments:
Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO)
The upper left chamber of your heart has a tiny pouch called a left atrial appendage. If you have a high risk of blood clots, your doctor may close this pouch using a small device called an Amulet, or Watchman™ implant. The implant closes the LAA and prevents blood clots from forming and causing a stroke. This surgery is minimally invasive, so you’ll be able to recover more quickly.
Patent foramen ovale closure
If the hole between your upper heart chambers — patent foramen ovale (PFO) — doesn’t close naturally after birth, this procedure can close it. During this minimally invasive procedure, your doctor places a small closure device and opens it in the PFO. This permanent closure device prevents blood from flowing through the hole.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
TAVR is a procedure to replace your aortic valve. Instead of opening the chest, your doctor uses a small incision to insert a catheter and place a new valve in your heart. Data shows outcomes are better than, or equal to open-heart surgery.
Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER)
The mitral valve is on the left side of your heart. Sometimes, this valve develops a hole and starts leaking backward, called mitral valve regurgitation. TEER can safely and effectively reduce mitral valve regurgitation in high-risk patients who aren’t candidates for surgery. During a minimally invasive TEER procedure, your doctor uses clips to repair the hole and reduce regurgitation.
Valvuloplasty
If one of your heart’s valves doesn’t open properly, your doctor may perform a valvuloplasty to widen or open it. During a minimally invasive valvuloplasty, your surgeon inserts a catheter with a small balloon on the tip into your artery and inflates it to open the mitral valve.
Ahmad Edris, MD
Director of Interventional Cardiology and Structural Heart Disease program at Tyler Heart Institute
Ahmad Edris, MD, specializes in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease with a focus on minimally invasive structural heart interventions. He chose this specialty because it allowed him to combine the analytic aspect of diagnosis and gave him the ability to provide therapies that truly change people’s lives.
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