LA JOLLA, Calif (KGTV) — For years, patients with a dangerous leaky heart valve faced a grim reality: If they were too sick for open heart surgery, there was nothing doctors could do.
Now, that’s changed. And Scripps Memorial Hospital played a big role in this “game-changing” medical breakthrough.
A new device called the JenaValve Trilogy has received full FDA approval to treat severe aortic regurgitation — a condition where the valve between the lower left heart chamber and the body’s main artery doesn’t close properly. That lets blood flow the wrong way. Over time, that forces the heart to work harder and harder, causing fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, lightheadedness, swelling in the ankles and feet, and an irregular heartbeat. Left untreated, it can lead to heart failure and death…