New Program Offers Expert Multidisciplinary Care for Advanced Valvular and Structural Heart Disease

The new Structural Heart Disease Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital provides highly specialized, multidisciplinary evaluation and care for patients with advanced and complex valvular and structural heart disease.

Comprised of a renowned team of specialists in cardiovascular medicine and surgery, including cardiology, interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiovascular imaging, and cardiac anesthesia, the Program enables patients to be evaluated by multiple specialists in one visit. These specialists collaborate closely in the development of a treatment plan – often using multiple modalities – designed to deliver the best outcome for each patient.

Groundbreaking Clinical Trials

The team of experts in the Program participates in leading clinical trials and is currently enrolling patients in the PARTNER trial, a national, multi-center, randomized trial for patients with aortic stenosis who are at high risk for conventional surgery.

The team recently completed the first percutaneous aortic valve replacement as part of this trial, placing a 26mm SAPIEN prosthesis via the transfemoral route, with vascular access and closure done entirely percutaneously. In the future, patients will be treated using either a percutaneous or transapical approach. New trials for patients with mitral regurgitation are expected within the year.

Advanced Treatment Options

The team of specialists in the Program collaborates to offer a range of advanced procedures, including:

• Percutaneous valve replacement;
• Aortic and mitral valvuloplasty;
• Catheter-based closure of periprosthetic valvular leaks in high risk or inoperable patients;
• “Hybrid” approaches to combined coronary and valvular heart disease.