Oklahoma Heart Institute Helps Lead Study For New Procedure

The FDA approved a new treatment to replace part of your heart with no open heart surgery.

The Oklahoma Heart Institute was the only center in Oklahoma to participate in this study.

Dr. Kamran Muhammad with the Oklahoma Heart Institute said this comes just in time for heart month, because it gives patients with tricuspid regurgitation an easier life.

Tricuspid regurgitation, or TR, is the leakiness of the tricuspid valves which is one of the main heart valves.

TR occurs when the tricuspid valve in your heart does not close all the way, allowing blood to flow backwards, causing the heart to struggle.

People with the condition have symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, and bloating.

Dr. Muhammad said the new technique is groundbreaking because there was no approved therapy in the past, just medicines which are a temporary fix.

Because OHI helped lead this study, its doctors can now do the procedure.

Dr. Muhammad said the procedure is easier to recover from than open heart surgery.

"The great thing about this procedure is that there’s no surgery involved. It’s all done through catheters through the femoral vein, which is the big vein in the groin similar to a heart catheterization procedure. And you know, we go through the femoral vein, and we implant this valve," Dr. Muhammad explained.

The Oklahoma Heart Institute is now offering the procedure to anyone who suffers from a leaky valve.