A Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health Network hospital was among the first in the state to deploy the Pi-Cardia ShortCut device during a valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
The device is designed for patients whose prior bioprosthetic aortic valve is failing but are not good candidates for repeat open-heart surgery due to high risk of coronary artery obstruction. ShortCut helps by precisely splitting the leaflet of the original surgical valve, making space for a new valve and protecting blood flow to the coronary arteries, according to a Nov. 24 system news release.
The procedure was performed by Christopher Sarnoski, DO, section chief of interventional cardiology and medical director of structural heart disease, and Jose Amortegui, MD, chief of cardiac surgery.
