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St. E’s team performs new heart-valve procedure
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Most of us probably spend little time thinking about breathing, walking and being able to get around, but to Ernest Federico, those three functions hold special value and appreciation.
“I can’t run a marathon yet,” the Poland man said with a chuckle, “but I have more energy and I’m walking a lot better.”
Earlier this month, Federico underwent a relatively new procedure at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement – or TAVR – surgery, a minimally invasive operation in which a new, collapsible heart valve is placed through a catheter where the damaged one is.
Before that, he suffered from severe aortic stenosis, a condition in which an opening to any of the four heart valves is narrowed, restricting blood flow.
Offering the groundbreaking procedure is Mercy Health Youngstown.
Federico talked about his recovery and prognosis Thursday at the hospital, noting that one day after the procedure, he was walking. Two days later, a healthy Federico was sent home with his blood-pressure and blood-thinner medications, he explained.
“Everything is fine,” the former middle-school teacher said, adding he’s looking forward to returning next fall to his position at Youngstown State University as supervisor of student teachers.
Federico underwent a triple heart bypass in 2006. It took a while before he learned he was a candidate for the TAVR procedure.
Among those on the team that worked on Federico were Drs. Robert E. Hunt and Rekhi Varghese, interventional cardiologists, and Dr. Lucas Henn, a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Patients who undergo the TAVR procedure are subjected to general anesthesia before small sheaths are inserted near the femoral arteries in the groin and a temporary pacemaker is added. A balloon is inserted that inflates, which further opens the damaged valve, Dr. Hunt explained.
Afterward, a second balloon carries the collapsible valve via a catheter-based delivery system. Once inserted, the valve remains open, he continued.
Dr. Hunt noted the procedure is for people who are deemed too high risk for traditional open-heart surgery or are considered inoperable because of a stroke or for other medical reasons.
An advantage of the minimally invasive surgery is the recovery is fast and safer. Dr. Hunt added some people are up two to four hours after the TAVR procedure.
Dr. Hunt said it took about nine months for the team to train and secure the facilities to perform the TAVR procedure. St. Elizabeth is one of about 350 hospitals nationwide that perform the procedure.