New Jersey’s first transcatheter pulmonary valve was placed on August 18 at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. The 14-year-old young man from Jersey City with congenital heart disease who received the device went home the following day and was able to avoid having what would have been the fourth open heart surgery in his lifetime.
Thanks to advances in medical and surgical care, most children with congenital heart defects are surviving into adulthood. In fact, today, there are more adults living with congenital heart disease (500,000) than children diagnosed with congenital heart defects. These heart defects require treatment from a collaborative team of adult and pediatric cardiac specialists as the child grows into an adult.
"The transcatheter pulmonary valve allows patients to undergo a much less invasive procedure that improves the flow of blood from the heart to the lungs,” said Rajiv Verma, MD, Director of the Children’s Heart Center at The Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, who, along with Marc Cohen, MD, Chief of Cardiology at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, placed the first Melody valve in the state.
In children born with certain kinds of heart defects, the blood vessel leading from the heart to the lungs and the valve, known as a conduit, are surgically constructed early in the child’s life. “These conduits can have a limited lifespan and typically require repair or replacement as the patients grows,” noted Dr. Verma. “The device allows us to replace the pulmonary valve in the conduit without the long recovery and risks associated with open heart surgery.”
Placement of the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve, approved by the FDA in 2010, requires the expertise of pediatric and adult cardiologists, an experienced cath lab team of physician assistants, nurses and technicians, as well as an available on-site pediatric cardiac surgery team.
The Melody valve is placed with a catheter that is inserted into a vein in the leg and guided up into the heart. “The anatomy of each heart affected by congenital disease is unique and by the time these patients are young adults, they have undergone multiple heart surgeries,” said Dr. Cohen. He compares the challenge of guiding a catheter through such hearts to driving along a highway that is under construction with detours, blockages and obstacles.
Once deployed, the valve begins to function immediately and the patient can resume normal activities within a few days. In comparison, full recovery from open heart surgery can take several months.
About the Center for Congenital Heart Disease at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
The Barnabas Health Heart Center and the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center combine pediatric and adult medical, catheter-based interventional and surgical expertise to address the long-term needs of teens, adults and the elderly living with congenital heart disorders. The center’s cardiac imaging specialists are indispensable in identifying congenital and acquired heart conditions at any age. The team of cardiac and pulmonary subspecialists meets regularly to review each individual case and plan the best possible treatments. Backed by the full resources of the comprehensive Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel, every treatment option is available on-site, including heart transplant. The renowned team has been providing advanced therapies for structural heart problems for more than a decade.
The transition to adult care is vital for people with congenital heart disease because their cardiac problems differ from those of people with acquired heart disease. The center treats all types of congenital heart conditions in adults, including those complicated by heart rhythm problems, heart failure, pregnancy and pacemakers.
Date: August 22, 2011
Contact: Caren Malone
Public Relations Department
Barnabas Health
973-322-4017, cmalone@barnabashealth.org
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