Conemaugh one of 2 Pa. hospitals to get newest man-made heart valve

Randy Griffith, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 7—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown was one of only two Pennsylvania hospitals selected to implant the latest man-made heart valve.

Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center heart surgeons Drs. Savas Mavridis, Amanpreet Sherwal and Dinesh Sharma recently performed the region's first transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure using the Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA Heart Valve.

"It's the next generation in the technology," Sherwal said in a phone interview. "It improves the way they fix the valve itself."

The latest development reduces the calcification that normally collects on man-made valves over time, he explained.

"It's called structural valve disintegration," Sherwal said. "It gets destroyed by the body itself."

The transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure, known as TAVR, is a minimally invasive approach to aortic valve replacement surgery for patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis — a condition in which the aortic valve opening in the heart gets narrower, preventing blood from flowing properly, according to the American Heart Association.

Doctors insert a catheter into an artery, usually accessed through the groin, and guide it into the heart, implanting a new man-made aortic heart valve inside the diseased valve.

"Conemaugh Health System is staying ahead of the curve by offering our patients the latest and best valve technology available," Mavridis said. "We are thrilled to have been selected for the initial release of the next-generation valve technology. This will improve the lives of many people in our community."

Conemaugh has been performing the TAVR procedures since 2016 and also offers a mitral valve reconstruction procedure for patients whose damaged valve does not need to be replaced.

"Because aortic valve replacement is the only effective treatment option for (severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis), the TAVR approach is significant because it removes the need to open the chest to replace the valve," Sherwal said. "This minimally invasive approach and anti-calcification design will help improve outcomes, greatly reduce the need for future interventions, and allow patients to get back to daily life sooner."