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Collaboration is key to Albany Medical Center’s Structural Heart Program. Cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, and interventional cardiac specialists work together to analyze each patient’s specific condition, review images, and consider the appropriate treatment plan for that patient.

“Traditionally, valvular heart disease has been treated as a separate specialty,” says Sanjay Sammy, MD, Aley Sheridan Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. “However, advances in technology and equipment have enabled us to work together as a team to provide patients with the best options for valvular heart disease.”

Valve problems can be congenital, where the patient is born with the problem, or they can be the result of other life events such as a heart attack, radiation therapy, a blood infection, or simply getting older. . “The older you get, the higher the incidence of valvular heart disease,” Dr. Sammy says.

Patients usually seek treatment when they start experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, feeling tired, or being unable to do their usual activities. The doctor hears the murmur and orders an echocardiogram, and the patient is immediately referred to a valve clinic.

Valve Clinic is multidisciplinary, meaning doctors evaluate patients simultaneously to determine the best treatment.

“Traditionally, when you have valvular heart disease or problems with your valves, the treatment has been surgery, which involves opening the sternum, using a heart-lung machine, and replacing the valve with a bioprosthetic or mechanical heart valve,” says Sammy. the doctor said. Thanks to advances in technology, doctors can now treat many structural problems in the heart through minimally invasive treatments and catheter-based treatments through the arteries in the groin.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, the number of patients undergoing minimally invasive treatments such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and mitral valve repair has increased.

Doctors at Albany Medical Center are collecting data on which patients do better with one approach than another.

“There are some patients who are too risky for open-heart surgery but are healthy enough for TAVR surgery, and some patients who are definitely better off with surgical valve replacement,” says Sammy, a fellow-trained doctor. said. Cardiothoracic surgeons were drawn to Albany Medical Center because of its affiliation with interventional cardiology and cardiology. When evaluating which treatments to recommend, your health care team uses measurements of mortality rates. These are based on the evaluation done in the clinic, comorbidities, medical conditions, and other heart conditions. For example, “younger patients may benefit from a more durable mechanical valve,” he added.

Albany Medical Center sees more structural heart patients than any other local medical institution, including TAVR, ASD repair, mitral valve disease using mitral valve clips, mitral valve replacement, and left atrial appendage. It can provide a significant amount of treatment for structural heart problems such as atresia. , and other minimally invasive, conventional heart valve replacement procedures.
As an academic medical system, Albany Medical Center also trains the next generation of cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons through residency and fellowship programs.

“We are ensuring that our residents and researchers have access to these new technologies,” Dr. Sammy said. “They’re working with us. They’re in our valve clinic. They’re evaluating these patients and looking at which ones might be beneficial.”

Clinical research in structural heart disease is active and evolving, allowing for the expansion of Albany Medical Center’s programs. He said, “We are constantly advancing our technology, and the technology itself is constantly improving.”

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