in UCLA Health, patients with valvular heart disease receive treatment from one of the most comprehensive and advanced cardiovascular programs in the world. As a long-standing leader in heart valve care, UCLA has earned an excellent reputation internationally, nationally, and regionally.

UCLA cardiologists offer a coordinated approach and access to a wide range of cutting-edge treatment options for valvular heart disease and other conditions such as arrhythmias, aneurysms, heart failure, and heart transplants. UCLA cardiologists and heart surgeons offer the latest pharmaceuticals, non-surgical interventions, and minimally invasive valve repair techniques, as well as a full range of classic surgical solutions with valve repair or replacement procedures .

U.S. News & World Report ranks UCLA No. 1. The best hospital for cardiology, cardiac surgery, and vascular surgery The medical center is rated “High Performance” in all evaluated cardiology and vascular procedures, including aortic valve surgery, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), heart bypass surgery, heart failure, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, and heart attack. ” is recognized as. . For his 34th consecutive year, UCLA Health Hospital has been named America’s Best Hospital by U.S. News & World Report.

Since its first FDA approval in 2011, TAVR has revolutionized the management of severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, allowing valve replacement without the need for open-heart surgery and making valve replacement available to more patients. We have expanded our benefits. UCLA first performed TAVR on him in 2012 and leads the nation in outcomes for this procedure.

Since 2015, the UCLA team has been performing TAVR with moderate sedation (rather than general anesthesia) in the majority of patients, helping to improve safety. In many cases, patients can go home within 1 to 3 days. Thanks to the latest generation of devices, UCLA uses “transfemoral” access for the majority of patients. The team also has extensive experience with alternative approaches such as transcarotid, transaxillary, and transapical approaches when appropriate.

UCLA has completed more than 1,200 TAVR procedures and is committed to sharing its learnings. The UCLA team has held several conferences and seminars to teach his TAVR best practices to visiting teams from across the United States and physicians around the world.

“As treatment options for valvular heart disease increase, it is increasingly important to pay attention to the details of each patient’s condition, anatomy, and situation so that we can provide the appropriate and best treatment options. At UCLA, we are proud to have world-renowned faculty who consider all the data to deliver the best outcomes for each patient.” Dr. Olkai AksoyAssociate Clinical Professor of Medicine and Cardiology, Associate Director of Aortic Valve Interventions, and Associate Director of Interventional Cardiology Research.

In 2023, UCLA will Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award Recipient of awards from the American Heart Association and the Mitral Valve Foundation for a demonstrated record of superior clinical outcomes resulting from evidence-based guideline-based degenerative mitral valve repair. This is the third consecutive year that UCLA Health has earned this award since the program began in November 2019. UCLA is one of only five institutions in the Western United States to receive this award in 2023. Dr. Richard J. Sheminhead of UCLA’s Division of Cardiac Surgery, holds the Robert and Kelly Day Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery, and received the Reference Surgeon Award.

“Our team at UCLA is honored to receive the Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center Award. This award is one that centers must earn annually based on quantity, quality, and outcomes. We are proud to have achieved this recognition over the years,” says Dr. Shemin.

The Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center award reflects the expansion of options UCLA offers to patients with mitral valve disease, including the use of minimally invasive robotic approaches and programs focused on mitral valve repair. Studies comparing mitral valve repair and mechanical valve replacement with artificial valves have shown that repair procedures have a lower risk of complications and mortality. “This results in significantly less bleeding, less pain, faster recovery, and better cosmetic results,” says Shemin.

Some patients require mitral valve replacement. UCLA has extensive expertise in mitral valve replacement. UCLA was one of the first centers in the nation to implant Mitris Resilia, a mitral valve device with advanced tissue technology that improves valve durability. The program also provides patients with access to promising investigational technologies through large-scale clinical trials.

“Patients diagnosed with mitral valve disease have far more treatment options than ever before,” says Shemin. “They are best treated at a center of excellence, where a full range of treatments is offered, from medications to a variety of surgical treatments to advanced equipment. At UCLA, our team of experts provides We will provide the best care.”

For patients with mitral regurgitation who are not candidates for surgical repair, UCLA offers a portfolio of minimally invasive non-surgical interventions. One is transcatheter end-to-end repair (TEER).Led by program director Marcella Calfon Press, MD, Ph.D.associate clinical professor of cardiology, UCLA’s Transcatheter Mitral Valve/TEER program has completed more than 200 TEER procedures since the program’s inception in 2016.

The UCLA program includes patients who are not candidates for surgical repair, such as those with advanced cardiomyopathy, the elderly, patients who require life-saving procedures such as liver transplants, and those with highly complex heart anatomy. , performing the TEER procedure on highly complex and high-risk patients. .

The UCLA TEER Program is also one of the busiest centers in the country for patients with complex adult congenital heart disease and valvular regurgitation, and works closely with the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program. Masu. UCLA combines the expertise of multiple specialties to care for unique patient populations. These cases have been presented at various national conferences.

The use of TEER to treat severe tricuspid regurgitation that is unresponsive to drug therapy is an area of ​​active clinical investigation. UCLA is currently offering the Tricuspid TEER to appropriate patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation in a clinical trial setting, with Dr. Press serving as UCLA principal investigator on his CLASP of his PASCAL system. We are actively enrolling patients in the II TR trial.

Recently, the FDA approved the first-ever transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) device, Evoque. UCLA hopes to offer the Evoque system in the near future.

To learn more about UCLA Health’s exceptional care for valvular heart disease, visit the UCLA Heart Valve Program. online.