ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexian Brothers Medical Center ( http://www.alexian.org ) announced today the nation’s first double implant of the new Biocor stented tissue valve. The first U.S. double implant of the device was performed on August 17, 2005 at Alexian Brothers Medical Center, located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The recipient was an 85 year-old male patient from Elgin, Illinois.
St. Jude Medical Inc. ( http://www.sjm.com ), the Minnesota-based company that manufactures the device, received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the new valve just this month.
“The patient is resting comfortably and recovering as expected,” according to Dr. Yan Katznelson, the cardiothoracic surgeon who performed the procedure. “I was very pleased with the ease of implantability. The device’s track record of durability in other countries gives me confidence that the valves will continue to deliver excellent performance for the patient for years to come.”
Tissue valves, also called biological valves, are made of tissue, but also have some artificial parts to provide additional support and allow the valve to be sewn in place. Tissue valves, which have long had clinical acceptance in Europe and Canada, are made from pig (porcine), or cow (bovine) tissue. In comparison to the mechanical valve, the tissue valve does not require patients to take blood thinners, unless they have other conditions such as atrial fibrillation, which require these medications.
Dr. Aladin Mariano, a cardiovascular surgeon who assisted in last week’s milestone surgery, explained that this latest technology involves an extremely complicated, high risk, surgical procedure that only a few hospitals in Illinois have the expertise to perform. “The ability to do simultaneous aortic and mitral tissue valve replacement offers hope for many patients who may otherwise may have none. These high-tech emerging products are changing the face of cardiac surgery around the world.”
The local patient was identified as a potential candidate for tissue valve replacement by his primary care physician Dr. Robert Small, after undergoing a consultation with Dr. Glenn Globus, a cardiologist with the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to be working with Alexian Brothers Medical Center on this significant first,” said George J. Fazio, President of St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Surgery Division. “St. Jude Medical and its family of heart valve replacement solutions have a track record of global leadership. I’m delighted that we can now offer this clinically-proven stented tissue prosthesis to U.S. physicians and their patients.”
Alexian Brothers Medical Center was recently named among the top 50 hospitals in heart and heart surgery by U.S. News and World report in the magazine’s annual “America’s Best Hospitals” list, which identifies hospitals that excel in a variety of difficult cases across a specialty.
Alexian Brothers Hospital Network
CONTACT: Matt Wakely, Director of Public Relations of Alexian BrothersHospital Network, +1-847-385-7176, wakelym@alexian.net
