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Employs multidisciplinary team approach
YOUNGSTOWN
1111St. Elizabeth heart valve clinic physician team members are: Drs. Jeffrey A. Fulton and Lucas W. Henn, cardiothoracic surgeons; Drs. Kwon Miller and John Scrocco, cardiologists; and Dr. Rekhi Varghese, interventional cardiologist.
In addition to the physicians, other team members include nurses, echocardiography technicians, data managers and the dental clinic.
“This multidisciplinary team brings together cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons to evaluate each patient and collaboratively develop individual treatment plans to provide the best outcomes for every patient,” said Mariann Pacak, director of Heart & Vascular Services at St. Elizabeth Youngstown.
According to the Johns Hopkins Hospital website, valvular heart disease is caused by a defect in or damage to one or more of the four valves of the heart: the aortic and mitral valves on the left side of the heart and the pulmonary and tricuspid valves on the right side.
The mitral and tricuspid valves control the flow of blood between the atria and the ventricles (the upper and lower chambers of the heart); the pulmonary valve controls the flow of blood from the heart to the lungs; and the aortic valve governs blood flow between the heart and the aorta, and thereby the blood vessels to the rest of the body.
The mitral and aortic valves are the ones most frequently affected by valvular heart disease.
Normally functioning valves ensure that blood flows with proper force in the proper direction at the proper time. In valvular heart disease, the valves become too narrow and hardened to open fully, or are unable to close completely. When the hearts valves do not work as they should, the primary diagnosis is valvular heart disease.
The severity of valvular heart disease varies. In mild cases, there may be no symptoms, while in advanced cases, valvular heart disease may lead to congestive heart failure and other complications, doctors say.
“The St. Elizabeth Heart Valve Clinic was developed after a review of echocardiograms suggested that a high percentage of patients with severe valvular pathology in the tri-county region were not being adequately identified and treated based on guidelines defined by American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association,” Dr. Fulton said.
“The advent of the valve clinic will hopefully help to ameliorate this problem and provide better comprehensive care for the patient. A team approach has been proven to be more effective, and the St. Elizabeth Heart Valve Clinic is the only such facility in the Mahoning Valley,” Dr. Fulton said.
Valvular disease, unlike other aspects of heart disease, is more complicated and requires a team approach to diagnose and treat at the appropriate time, Dr. Varghese said.
It is slower developing and symptoms might not easily be recognized. Sometimes patients tailor their lifestyle around the symptoms thinking it is just old age, he said.
“Everything from diagnosis to creation and implementation of a treatment plan can be done in one place at the same setting for the patient. More opinions are better than one,” Dr. Miller said.
“It speeds up the process and improves quality of care,” Dr. Henn said.
“The goal is to find the appropriate timing for treatment to achieve the best long-term outcome. This is normally when symptoms become identifiable,” Dr. Fulton said.
“We are doctors that not only work but live in the community. The ultimate goal of the heart valve clinic is to render the best care close to home for the patient and family,” Dr. Miller said.