LLUMC First in Area to Offer Breakthrough Device for Patients with Mitral Valve Disease

Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) became the first hospital in the Inland Empire and Orange County to offer percutaneous mitral valve repair using MitraClip® Device, manufactured by Abbott Vascular Laboratories. As the first transcatheter mitral valve therapy that was approved by the FDA in October 2013 for selected patients suffering from mitral regurgitation, MitraClip is a minimally invasive treatment option for patients in which comorbidities and high risk would exclude them from traditional mitral valve surgery. “We are proud to be the pioneer center in the Inland Empire to offer minimally invasive mitral valve repair using MitraClip to our patients,” said Ramin Assadi, MD, an interventional cardiologist and the director of percutaneous mitral valve therapies at LLUMC. “MitraClip system is a cutting-edge technology available for carefully selected patients that can improve heart failure symptoms by reducing mitral regurgitation, causing favorable left ventricular remodeling and a significant reduction in hospitalizations due to heart failure, ultimately improving the patient’s quality of life." The first MitraClip procedures at LLUMC were done in July, and both procedures were successful. The patients have reported an immediate improvement of their heart failure symptoms. The cardiac team that performed the first MitraClip procedures consisted of interventional cardiologists: Ramin Assadi, MD, Islam Abudayyeh, MD, and Brent Gordon, MD; interventional echocardiographer, Ramesh Bansal, MD; cardiothoracic surgeons: Rosario Floridia, MD, and Nahidth Hasanyia. Also involved with the procedure was the cardiac anesthesia team, including Ryan Lauer, MD, and Carin Mascetti. MitraClip repairs the mitral valve without the need for an invasive surgical procedure. The device is delivered to the heart through the femoral vein (a blood vessel in the leg), and once implanted, creates a double opening of the mitral valve with a more efficient closure of the valve which reduces mitral valve insufficiency. This allows the heart to pump blood more efficiently, thereby relieving symptoms and improving patient quality of life. MitraClip procedure has a 95 percent success rate. Patients undergoing MitraClip treatment typically experience short recovery times and short hospital stays of less than three days.