LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Specialists at the Norton Heart and Vascular Institute made history this week in Louisville using a first-of-its-kind heart procedure.
The EVOQUE transcatheter tricuspid heart valve replacement is used on patients with debilitating tricuspid regurgitation, which happens when the tricuspid valve fails to close properly during heart contractions, leaking blood into the right side of the heart. If left untreated, it can lead to heart failure and liver congestion.
“Up to 80% of people can have some degree of tricuspid regurgitation,” Dr. D. Sean Stewart, interventional cardiologist and medical director of interventional and structural cardiology at Norton Heart and Vascular, said in a news release. “Symptoms can be insidious, starting with fatigue and shortness of breath, but eventually develop to swelling of the feet and even pulsations in the neck.”…