North Shore Doctors Replace Heart Valve Without Surgery

Cardiac surgeons at were recently the first doctors on Long Island and Queens to perform a non-surgical heart valve replacement procedure, allowing patients to be treated without the need for a traditional surgical procedure.

According to a report on Health Canal: 

Patients with severe aortic stenosis can now be considered for the less-invasive procedure with the new device known as the Sapien transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). These patients are generally older with multiple medical conditions which can put people at very high risk if traditional surgical procedures were performed.

TAVR has been in use in Europe since 2002.

The procedure was performed on January 23 in a $5 million surgical suite on two patients: Ann Pszybylski, an 84-year-old female patient from Hauppauge who had a failing heart valve for approximately one year and Elliott Gaberman, a 78-year-old Queens man.

“Patients who do not receive an aortic valve replacement have no effective, long-term treatment option to prevent or delay the progression of severe aortic stenosis and eventual death,” said Dr. Scheinerman, noting that approximately 50 percent of patients who are in their 80s and have symptoms of congestive heart failure with critical aortic stenosis will die in six months to a year without treatment. “For patients who were previously inoperable, the new TAVR gives hope for extending the lives of these patients with improved quality of life.”

According to the article, had Pszybylski had “shortness of breath while doing any type of activity that required movement, even walking,” and was not a candidate for a conventional procedure due to her frail condition and suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Gaberman had reportedly “struggled with shortness of breath and extreme fatigue while walking and climbing stairs” and was not a candidate for conventional surgery due to a triple-bypass in 2007.

Pszyblyski spent 3 days in the hospital while Gaberman recuperated at his home.