Ann Conkle
Jun 1, 2012
Featured

VIDEO - Saving a heart without open-heart surgery

It was unthinkable even a few years ago, but a new procedure replaces a faulty heart valve without open-heart surgery. "It really is going to change the way we approach disease processes," says Dr. Brian Hummel, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Lee Memorial Health System. In the surgery, referred to as TAVR, a team of physicians insert a catheter in the groin and thread it to the heart to deliver a new valve with an angioplasty balloon.