A Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health Network hospital was among the first in the state to deploy the Pi-Cardia ShortCut device during a valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
The device is designed for patients whose prior bioprosthetic aortic valve is failing but are not good candidates for repeat open-heart surgery due to high risk of coronary artery obstruction. ShortCut helps by precisely splitting the leaflet of the original surgical valve, making space for a new valve and protecting blood flow to the coronary arteries, according to a Nov. 24 system news release…